Back to Search
Start Over
Improving study design for antidepressant effectiveness assessment.
- Source :
-
International journal of methods in psychiatric research [Int J Methods Psychiatr Res] 2013 Sep; Vol. 22 (3), pp. 217-31. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Aug 30. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- Antidepressants effectiveness in major depressive disorder (MDD) is still questioned because the extrapolation of randomized controlled trial (RCT) results to "real life" settings is problematic. The application of the RCT paradigm in a disorder of this type, where global care plays a central role, raises questions regarding the internal and external validity of this type of study. Outcome measurement, attrition rates, the ability of the double-blind design to control for expectations, placebo response, the representativeness of trial participants and publication bias are major methodological pitfalls. This review discusses these issues. It is illustrated using original data and proposes some alternatives for assessing antidepressant effectiveness via different approaches. Some are easy to implement, such as ecological measures, qualitative approaches, improvement of analytical strategy and improvement of blinding procedures. Some are sophisticated, involving temporary deception to deal with the confounding effect of expectations, and they raise ethical issues. Others resort to external validity, this being the case in observational studies. But all are necessary to explore antidepressant effectiveness.<br /> (Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- Depressive Disorder, Major diagnosis
Depressive Disorder, Major psychology
Double-Blind Method
Humans
Observational Studies as Topic
Outcome Assessment, Health Care
Personality Assessment statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics statistics & numerical data
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic standards
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
Antidepressive Agents therapeutic use
Depressive Disorder, Major drug therapy
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic methods
Research Design
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1557-0657
- Volume :
- 22
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- International journal of methods in psychiatric research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 24038333
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1391