SynthesisClinical drug investigation2025
Association of Placebo Response with Effect Size in Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trials of Antidepressants in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Clinical drug investigation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveMany randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of antidepressants in children and adolescents have failed to demonstrate their efficacy. This study examined the association between the placebo response and effect size in RCTs of antidepressants in children and adolescents assessed using the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R).
methodsPubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched for randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants for the acute treatment of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents. The outcome for the present study was the mean change in the CDRS-R total score from baseline to the primary assessment time-point for the placebo and active drug arm. The effect size was calculated using Hedges' g.
resultsThe analysis included 21 RCTs. There was a correlation between larger effect size and smaller placebo response. In clinical trials with fluoxetine, effect sizes were significantly greater in those with a placebo lead-in period than in those without.
conclusionsThe difference between the active drug and placebo was maximized when the placebo response was reduced. The placebo lead-in period was an important factor for obtaining superior results in clinical trials of antidepressants in adolescents and children evaluated using the CDRS-R.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40533654What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.