Initial Severity and Antidepressant Efficacy for Anxiety Disorders: an Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis

• Status: Unknown status
• Trial end date: 2016-12-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Anxiety disorders are common disorders, which pose a major burden to society and the individual. An anxiety disorder may be treated with medication, in particular with antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, much of what is known about antidepressants is derived from research in depression rather than anxiety. In recent years, researchers have found that antidepressants are more effective for severely depressed patients than they are for patients with milder symptoms. It is possible that a similar relationship between symptom severity and antidepressant efficacy exists for anxiety disorders, but there is currently little evidence available to answer this question. As antidepressants are frequently prescribed to patients with mild or moderate anxiety, a clear understanding of their effectiveness across the severity range is vital to inform treatment decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine whether initial symptom severity affects antidepressant efficacy for anxiety disorders.

• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: prof. Peter de Jonge
• Treatments: Antidepressive Agents; Duloxetine Hydrochloride; Fluoxetine; Paroxetine; Serotonin; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors; Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Inclusion in the intent-to-treat population of a randomized controlled trial of a second-generation antidepressant for the short-term treatment of an anxiety disorder

• Diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (GAD, SAD, OCD, PTSD or PD)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Assignment to an active comparator that is not a second-generation antidepressant (e.g. a benzodiazepine)