Loading...
Before writing medications off as ineffective or only partially effective, clinicians strive to optimize dosing. To better identify optimal doses for six selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), investigators applied meta-analytic techniques to 40 studies involving 10,039 patients with major depression in placebo-controlled randomized trials who were treated with fluoxetine, (N=2386), fluvoxamine (N=910), paroxetine (N=3424), sertraline (N=865), citalopram (N=1349), or escitalopram (N=1105).
Focusing on efficacy and tolerability, investigators calculated number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH). They used published dose ranges to convert SSRI doses to imipramine equivalents, with 100 mg of imipramine equivalent to…