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Evidence summaries

Venlafaxine for Depression

Venlafaxine is at least as effective as tricyclic antidepressants and appears to be more effective than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for mild to moderate depression. Level of evidence: "A"

A topic in Clinical Evidence 1 summarizes the results of systematic reviews comparing venlafaxine with other kinds of antidepressants. One systematic review (search date 2000) including 8 RCTs with a total of 1356 people found no significant difference between venlafaxine and tricyclic antidepressants in the proportion of people that responded over 1 month to 1 year (defined as at least 50% response on a continuous rating scale): OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.85. One systematic review (search date 2000) including 20 RCTs with a total of 3844 people found that venlafaxine increased the proportion of people who responded over 1 month to 1 year compared to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: RR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.58).

    References

    • Geddes J, Butler R, Hatcher S, Cipriani A. What are the effects of treatments in mild to moderate or severe depression? Clinical Evidence 2005;13:1244-1263.

Primary/Secondary Keywords