Efficacy of Antidepressants and USPSTF Guidelines for Depression Screening
Authors: Roy M. Poses
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2010)

Letters1 June 2010Efficacy of Antidepressants and USPSTF Guidelines for Depression ScreeningRoy M. Poses, MDRoy M. Poses, MDFrom the Foundation for Integrity and Responsibility in Medicine, Warren, RI 02885.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-152-11-201006010-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:The efforts of the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) to keep their evidence-based guidelines up to date are praiseworthy. It is understandable that practical concerns may limit specific questions addressed by new literature reviews. Nonetheless, it is disappointing that the questions addressed in the recent update of the depression screening guidelines (1) were not broader. In particular, the narrowly defined review did not consider new evidence on the efficacy of antidepressant treatment of depression from 2 recent meta-analyses, which included many clinical trials whose results were not published and were heretofore inaccessible.Turner and colleagues (2) ...References1. O'Connor EA, Whitlock EP, Beil TL, Gaynes BN. Screening for depression in adult patients in primary care settings: a systematic evidence review. Ann Intern Med. 2009;151:793-803. [PMID: 19949145] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Turner EH, Matthews AM, Linardatos E, Tell RA, Rosenthal R. Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:252-60. [PMID: 18199864] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Kirsch I, Moore TJ, Scoboria A, Nicholls SS. The emperor's new drugs: an analysis of antidepressant medication data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prev Treat. 2002; volume 5: article 23. Google Scholar4. Godlee F, Clarke M. Why don't we have all the evidence on oseltamivir? [Editorial]. BMJ. 2009;339:b5351. [PMID: 19995815] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Roy M. Poses, MDAffiliations: From the Foundation for Integrity and Responsibility in Medicine, Warren, RI 02885.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoScreening for Depression in Adult Patients in Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Evidence Review Elizabeth A. O'Connor , Evelyn P. Whitlock , Tracy L. Beil , and Bradley N. Gaynes Efficacy of Antidepressants and USPSTF Guidelines for Depression Screening Evelyn P. Whitlock , Elizabeth A. O'Connor , and Bradley N. Gaynes Metrics Cited byDevelopment of Clinical Guideline for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Depression: Focused on Diagnosis GuidelineDevelopment of Clinical Guideline for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Depression: Focused on Diagnosis Guideline 1 June 2010Volume 152, Issue 11Page: 753KeywordsAntidepressantsClinical trialsConflicts of interestDrugsEvidence based medicineInformation technologyScreening guidelinesTreatment guidelines ePublished: 1 June 2010 Issue Published: 1 June 2010 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2010 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...