Some statistically significant differences between citalopram and other antidepressants for the acute phase treatment of major depression were found in terms of efficacy , tolerability and acceptability .
Citalopram was more efficacious than paroxetine and reboxetine and more acceptable than tricyclics , reboxetine and venlafaxine , however , it seemed to be less efficacious than escitalopram .
BACKGROUND Recent US and UK clinical practice guidelines recommend that second-generation antidepressants should be considered amongst the best first-line options when drug therapy is indicated for a depressive episode .
Systematic review s have already highlighted some differences in efficacy between second-generation antidepressants .
Citalopram , one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRI ) introduced in the market , is one of these antidepressant drugs that clinicians use for routine depression care .
OBJECTIVES To assess the evidence for the efficacy , acceptability and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with tricyclics , heterocyclics , other SSRIs and other conventional and non-conventional antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression .
Why internal and external validity of experimental studies are relevant for clinical practice?
In r and omised controlled trials ( RCTs ) there are two types of validity : internal validity and external validity . Internal validity refers to the extent to which the observed difference between groups can be correctly attributed to the intervention under investigation . In other words , it is the extent to which the design and conduct of the trial eliminate error . Internal validity might be threatened by two types of errors : systematic error ( also called bias ) and chance error ( also called r and om error or statistical error ) ( Keirse & Hanssens , 2000 . Systematic error , or bias , may be the consequence of erroneous ways of collecting , analysing and interpreting data . This may produce differences between treatments that are not real , with an overestimation or an underestimation of the true beneficial or harmful effect of an intervention ( Juni et al. , 2001 ) . In RCTs there are four types of bias : selection bias ( when the groups differ in baseline characteristics because of the way participants are selected ) , performance bias ( when the care provided to the trial participants differs systematic ally between the experimental and control group ) , detection bias ( when there are systematic differences in outcome assessment ) , and attrition bias ( when the loss of participants from the study systematic ally differs between the experimental and control group ) . By contrast , chance error , or statistical error , is due to outcome variability that may arise by chance alone . Studies with small sample sizes are more likely to incur in this type of error than studies with large sample sizes . Thus , the risk of r and om error may be minimised by recruiting sufficiently large sample s of patients
Some statistically significant differences between citalopram and other antidepressants for the acute phase treatment of major depression were found in terms of efficacy , tolerability and acceptability .
Citalopram was more efficacious than paroxetine and reboxetine and more acceptable than tricyclics , reboxetine and venlafaxine , however , it seemed to be less efficacious than escitalopram .
BACKGROUND Recent US and UK clinical practice guidelines recommend that second-generation antidepressants should be considered amongst the best first-line options when drug therapy is indicated for a depressive episode .
Systematic review s have already highlighted some differences in efficacy between second-generation antidepressants .
Citalopram , one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRI ) introduced in the market , is one of these antidepressant drugs that clinicians use for routine depression care .
OBJECTIVES To assess the evidence for the efficacy , acceptability and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with tricyclics , heterocyclics , other SSRIs and other conventional and non-conventional antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression .