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Evidence summaries

Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Depression

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may have limited, non-clinically beneficial effect on depression compared to placebo. Level of evidence: "C"

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (heterogeneity in patients, interventions and results) and imprecise results (most of the trials were small with wide confidence intervals).

Summary

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 34 studies with a total of 1924 subjects..N-3PUFA supplementation resulted in a small to modest benefit for depressive symptomology compared to placebo (SMD -0.4, 95% CI -0.64 to -0.16; 33 studies, n=1848), but this effect is unlikely to be clinically meaningful (an SMD of -0.4represents a difference between groups in scores on the HDRS (17-item) of approximately 2.5 points (95% CI 1 to 4), where the minimal clinically important change score on this scale is 3.0 points). The amount of individuals experiencing adverse events were similar in intervention and placebo groups (OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.64; 24 studies, n=1503). Rates of remission and response, quality of life, and rates of failure to complete studies were also similar between groups.The evidence on which these results are based is very limited.

Clinical comments

Note

Date of latest search:

    References

    • Appleton KM, Voyias PD, Sallis HM et al. Omega-3 fatty acids for depression in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2021;(11):CD004692. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords