Conclusions : International differences in prescriber behaviour may influence , and in turn be influenced by , the conduct of clinical trials .
Objective : International differences are thought to exist in dosages used by clinicians treating mood disorders .
This study examined international dosage differences in antidepressant clinical trials , using a data base formed and maintained as a component of a Cochrane review of comparative clinical trials of fluoxetine .
A double-blind study of fluoxetine and imipramine in major depression.
Eighteen out patients with major depression ( diagnosis was made according to DSM-III criteria ) were treated in a 5-week double-blind parallel group comparison of the new antidepressant fluoxetine with imipramine . From these results it can be shown that the drugs were comparable in efficacy , although because of the small sample size a moderate clinical difference between treatments may not have been detected . Imipramine and fluoxetine have already been compared in other studies , but never at such a low dosage ( 20 mg ) for fluoxetine . At this dosage the fluoxetine  safety profile seems to be very different from previous scheduled studies with higher dosages . In fact clinical efficacy seems to remain comparable while side-effects are significantly less frequent
Conclusions : International differences in prescriber behaviour may influence , and in turn be influenced by , the conduct of clinical trials .
Objective : International differences are thought to exist in dosages used by clinicians treating mood disorders .
This study examined international dosage differences in antidepressant clinical trials , using a data base formed and maintained as a component of a Cochrane review of comparative clinical trials of fluoxetine .