Which Newer Antidepressant Is Best?

Clinicians often wonder which of the newer antidepressants they should choose for patients with moderate-to-severe depression. These authors attempt to address this question in a meta-analysis of studies comparing 12 newer antidepressants for the acute treatment (typically, 8 weeks) of unipolar major depression. The mixed-treatments meta-analysis compared results both within and across randomized, controlled trials.

The authors examined 117 studies published between 1991 and 2007, involving 25,928 subjects who took any of 12 new-generation antidepressants (bupropion, citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, milnacipran, mirtazapine, paroxetine, reboxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine) as depression monotherapy. Response…