Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of different antidepressant drugs in addition to standard clinical care in the prevention of postnatal depression. To compare the effectiveness of different antidepressant drugs and with any other form of intervention for postnatal depression i.e. hormonal, psychological or social support. To assess any adverse effects of antidepressant drugs in either the mother or the foetus/infant.Methods The register of clinical trials maintained and updated by the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group and the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group.Randomised studies of antidepressants alone or in combination with another treatment, compared with placebo or a psychosocial intervention in non-depressed pregnant women or women who had given birth in the previous six weeks (i.e. women at risk of postnatal depression). Data were extracted independently from the trial reports by the authors.Missing information was requested from investigators wherever possible. Data were sought to allow an intention to treat analysis.Results Two trials fullled the inclusion criteria for this review. Both looked at women with a past history of postpartum depression.Nortriptyline (n=26) did not show any benefit over placebo (n=25). Sertraline (n=14) reduced the recurrence of postnatal depression and the time to recurrence when compared with placebo (n=8). Intention to treat analyses were not carried out in either trial.Conclusions It is not possible to draw any clear conclusions about the effectiveness of antidepressants given immediately postpartum in preventing postnatal depression and, therefore, cannot be recommended for prophylaxis of postnatal depression, due to the lack of clear evidence. Larger trials are needed which also include comparisons of antidepressant drugs with other prophylactic treatments to reect clinical practice, and examine adverse effects for the foetus and infant, as well as assess womens’ attitudes to the use of antidepressants at this time.
ObjectiveTo investigate the use of traditional and new-type antidepressants in the in-patients with depressive disorder. MethodsThe antidepressant use of 165 in-patients with depressive disorders from March 1st to April 30th, 2013 were investigated. ResultsThe new-type antidepressants became the best drug in clinic, and single drug use was carried out mostly. The most used drug was atypical antipsychotics. ConclusionThe use of antidepressant drugs in the in-patients with depressive disorder in our hospital is regular and reasonable.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of antidepressants in the prevention of poststroke depression (PSD). MethodsWe searched The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2015), PubMed, MEDLINE, EMbase, CNKI and VIP databases to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about antidepressants in preventing PSD from inception to April 2015. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 26 RCTs involving 2 190 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:compared with the control group, the antidepressants group could significantly reduce the incidence of PSD (OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.17 to 0.36, P<0.000 01). Subgroup analysis based on types of drugs showed that:the selective serotonin reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) could significantly reduce the incidence of PSD (OR=0.23, 95%CI 0.15 to 0.37, P<0.000 01). Subgroup analysis based on length of time showed that antidepressants could decrease the incidence of PSD in short term (OR=0.11, 95%CI 0.06 to 0.19, P<0.000 01), middle term (OR=0.31, 95%CI 0.21 to 0.46, P<0.000 01) and long term (OR=0.30, 95%CI 0.19 to 0.49, P<0.000 01). In addition, there was no statistical difference in the incidence of adverse effect between the antidepressants group and the control group (P>0.05). ConclusionAntidepressants is effective in the prevention of PSD, and may not affect patient's life quality. Due to the limited quantity and quality of included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
Objective To evaluate the cost effectiveness of four different mechanisms clinical commonly used antidepressants, namely, amitriptyline, escitalopram, mirtazapine and venlafaxine in the treatment of moderate-severe depressive disorder in China and to provide clinicians with some advice. Methods We carried out the cost-effectiveness analysis of four antidepressants by establishing a decision tree model. The parameters uncertainty in the model was estimated through one-way sensitivity analysis. Results In terms of average cost-effectiveness ratio (CER), amitriptyline’s was 45.24 RMB, which was the lowest. And the CERs of mirtazapine, escitalopram and venlafaxine were 273.71 RMB, 332.00 RMB and 716.58 RMB, respectively. While in terms of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), venlafaxine was excluded as the dominated strategy. When the threshold value of willingness to pay (WTP) was less than 3 420.92 RMB, amitriptyline was the most cost-effective; when the threshold value ranges between 3 420.92 RMB and 4 200 RMB, mirtazapine was the most cost-effective; and when the threshold value was over 4 200 RMB, escitalopram was the most cost-effective. In the one-way sensitivity analysis, when we changed the four kinds of drugs costs within a certain range, the results was not changed with the change of venlafaxine’s cost but changed with the other three drugs costs. Conclusion Clinicians may choose the most cost-effective therapy according to patients’ different WTP values. We suggests that health care institutions should encourage the use of escitalopram clinically and provide subsidies for patients so as to increase the overall society benefit.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the efficacy and safety of newer-generation antidepressants for patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and depression.MethodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP databases were searched from inception to December 2017 to collect randomized controlled trials (RCT) on newer-generation antidepressants for patients with MI and depression. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsTen RCTs involving 552 participants were included. The results showed that the antidepressant group was superior to the placebo or treatment group in terms of the improvement of depressive symptoms (SMD=–1.38, 95%CI –1.93 to –0.82, P<0.000 01), and incidence of angina (RR=0.42, 95%CI 0.25 to 0.71,P=0.001), recurrent MI (RR=0.43, 95%CI 0.22 to 0.83, P=0.01), and re-hospitalization for cardiac reasons (RR=0.51, 95%CI 0.28 to 0.92, P=0.03). However, there were no significant differences between two groups on all-cause mortality (RR=0.45, 95%CI 0.18 to 1.11, P=0.08), cardiovascular mortality (RR=0.53, 95%CI 0.16 to 1.73, P=0.29) and incidence of heart failure (RR=0.75, 95%CI 0.39 to 1.43, P=0.38). Subgroup analysis revealed that the type of antidepressants could affect the improvement of depression outcome. Citalopram and fluoxetine might be the most effective drugs for patients with MI and depression.ConclusionsNewer-generation antidepressants are effective for treatment of depressive symptoms in patients with MI and depression, with no significant impact on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, antidepressants can reduce the incidence of angina, recurrent MI, and re-hospitalization for cardiac reasons in patients suffering from MI and depression. Due to limited quantity and quality of included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify above conclusions.