Dr. Renato Montemurro
Psychologist Psychotherapist
Iscritto All’albo degli Psicologi della regione Basilicata al
N° 92
STUDIES:
Street: Achille Bruni, 17 - 76121 Barletta (BT)
Tel. 0883-518895
Street: Lupo Protospata, 48 - 75100 Matera
Tel. 0835-333037 Cell.: 377-1067469
SITI WEB: http://www.sitoflash.net/montemurro/index1.htm ;
www.ansia-sessualita-coppia.it
email: renatomont@alice.it Skype: renato.montemurro
SITUATED WEB: http://www.sitoflash.net/montemurro/index1.htm
email: renatomont@alice.it
REAL EFFICACY OF ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS IN PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE.
Kirsch et al. (2002a) studied all 47 randomized clinical trials (RCT) submitted by pharmaceutical companies to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of the six most prescribed Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants. The mean difference between drug and placebo was less than 2 points on the 21-item (62-point) Hamilton Depression Scale (which is the version used in many of the these RTCs). This superiority to placebo, although statistically significant, was not clinically significant. Furthermore, 57% of the trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry failed to show a significant difference between drug and placebo. Most of these negative data were not published and were accessible only by gaining access, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, to FDA documents. This research is discussed in light of the wider problem of the roles of medications and interpersonal relationship in psychiatric practice. [KEY WORDS: antidepressants drugs, Selective Serotonin Reuptake
Inhibitors (SSRI), placebo, Kirsch, Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT)]
Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 2005, XXXIX, 3: 312-322 -