The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Meta-analyses with industry involvement are massively published and report no caveats for antidepressants
Abstract
Objectives To identify the impact of industry involvement in the publication and interpretation of meta-analyses of antidepressant trials in depression.Study design and setting Using MEDLINE, we identified all meta-analyses evaluating antidepressants for depression published in January 2007-March 2014. We extracted data pertaining to author affiliations, conflicts of interest, and whether the conclusion of the abstract included negative statements on whether the antidepressant(s) were effective or safe.Results We identified 185 eligible meta-analyses. Fifty-four meta-analyses (29%) had authors who were employees of the assessed drug manufacturer, and 147 (79%) had some industry link (sponsorship or authors who were industry employees and/or had conflicts of interest). Only 58 meta-analyses (31%) had negative statements in the concluding statement of the abstract. Meta-analyses including an author who were employees of the manufacturer of the assessed drug were 22-fold less likely to have negative statements about the drug than other meta-analyses [1/54 (2%) vs. 57/131 (44%); P < 0.001].Conclusion There is a massive production of meta-analyses of antidepressants for depression authored by or linked to the industry, and they almost never report any caveats about antidepressants in their abstracts. Our findings add a note of caution for meta-analyses with ties to the manufacturers of the assessed products.
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In the citing paper
“Generally, all the previous reviews show that antidepressants seem to have statistically significant effects on depressive symptoms”
From Should antidepressants be used for major depressive disorder? (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
In the citing paper
“All these previous reviews show that antidepressants have statistically significant effects on depressive symptoms.”
From Should antidepressants be used for major depressive disorder? (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
In the citing paper
“Ebrahim et al 30 identified 185 eligible meta-analyses assessing the effects of different antidepressants, and in the meta-analyses including an author who was an employee of the manufacturer of the assessed drug, these were 22-fold less likely to have negative statements about the drug than other meta-analyses.”
From Should antidepressants be used for major depressive disorder? (2020) · cites this paper as [30]
Citations
Cites
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Industry sponsorship and research outcome
Lundh, A., Lexchin, J., Mintzes, B., Schroll, J. B., & Bero, L. (2017) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.mr000033.pub3 · Cited by 1,697
Suicidality in Pediatric Patients Treated With Antidepressant Drugs
Hammad, T. A., Laughren, T., & Racoosin, J. (2006) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.3.332 · Cited by 1,054
Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews
Eden, J., Levit, L. A., Berg, A. O., & Morton, S. C. (2013) · Cited by 943
Epidemiology and reporting characteristics of systematic reviews.
Moher, D., Tetzlaff, J., Tricco, A. C., Sampson, M., & Altman, D. G. (2007) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040078 · Cited by 891
Jørgensen, A. W., Hilden, J., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2006) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.38973.444699.0b · Cited by 439
Overlapping meta-analyses on the same topic: survey of published studies
Siontis, K. C., Hernandez‐Boussard, T., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2013) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.f4501 · Cited by 249
Self-citationYank, V., Rennie, D., & Bero, L. A. (2007) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.39376.447211.be · Cited by 235
Industry sponsorship and research outcome
Lundh, A., Lexchin, J., Sismondo, S., Busuioc, O. A., & Bero, L. A. (2011) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.mr000033 · Cited by 166
Stamatakis, E., Weiler, R., & Ioannidis, J. P. A. (2013) · European Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1111/eci.12074 · Cited by 115
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2 of the 33 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
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Items 101–107 of 107
Czajkowski, M., & Olsson, L. (2025) · Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care · doi:10.1080/02813432.2025.2519660 · Cited by 1
Veroniki, A. A., Wong, E. K. C., Lunny, C., Molina, J. C. M., Florez, I. D., Tricco, A. C., & Straus, S. E. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.22775959
Veroniki, A. A., Wong, E. K. C., Lunny, C., Molina, J. C. M., Florez, I. D., Tricco, A. C., & Straus, S. E. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.22775956
Réévaluation de l'apport du nalméfène au traitement de l'alcoolodépendance
Palpacuer, C. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/aa77e495z482ez45b0z9aabz3b0862e3413e
AlGoraini, Y., Shash, H., Darwish, M., Alghamdi, F., Alzahrani, A. A., Araier, L., Alkhayat, M., & Alareefy, A. (2026) · Frontiers in Disaster and Emergency Medicine · doi:10.3389/femer.2026.1801882
Therapie und Prävention psychischer Störungen
Hengartner, M. P. (2026) · Angewandte Psychologie Kompakt · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-72845-1_5
Non-convergence in medical meta analysis: evidence suggestive of a replication crisis
Landes, J. (2026) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-026-05852-y
Metadata
- Authors
- Ebrahim, S., Bance, S., Athale, A., Malachowski, C., & Ioannidis, J. P. A.
- Affiliations
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ioannidis, John P.A.
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 70
- Pages
- 155-163
- ISSN
- 0895-4356 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1953543234
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 11
- FWCI
- 2.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Issues, ethics and legal aspects › Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- antidepressants, depression, meta-analysis, industry funding, conflicts of interest, pharmaceutical industry, author affiliation, publication bias, drug safety, drug effectiveness
- MeSH terms
- Antidepressive Agents, Depression, Drug Industry, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Conflict of Interest
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