Cited by 451Meta-analysis and systematic reviewsMental Health Treatment and AccessPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Putting the efficacy of psychiatric and general medicine medication into perspective: review of meta-analyses

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Leucht, Stefan, Hierl, Sandra, Kissling, Werner, Dold, Markus, Davis, John M.·2012·British Journal of Psychiatry

Abstract

Background: The efficacy of psychopharmacological treatments has been called into question. Psychiatrists are unfamiliar with the effectiveness of common medical drugs. Aims: To put the efficacy of psychiatric drugs into the perspective of that of major medical drugs. Method: We searched Medline and the Cochrane Library for systematic reviews on the efficacy of drugs compared with placebo for common medical and psychiatric disorders, and systematically presented the effect sizes for primary efficacy outcomes. Results: We included 94 meta-analyses (48 drugs in 20 medical diseases, 16 drugs in 8 psychiatric disorders). There were some general medical drugs with clearly higher effect sizes than the psychotropic agents, but the psychiatric drugs were not generally less efficacious than other drugs. Conclusions: Any comparison of different outcomes in different diseases can only serve the purpose of a qualitative perspective. The increment of improvement by drug over placebo must be viewed in the context of the disease's seriousness, suffering induced, natural course, duration, outcomes, adverse events and societal values.

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6 of the 202 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [6]6. Breggin P. Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide, and Crime. St Martin's Press, 2008.
  2. [9]9. Mo ¨ller HJ, Laux G, Deister A. Duale Reihe Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, 4. Auflage. Thieme, 2009.
  3. [11]11. The Nordic Cochrane Centre. Review Manager (RevMan) [Computer program] Version 5.0. Cochrane Collaboration, 2008.
  4. [40]40. Vogelmeier C, Buhl R, Crie ´e CP, Gillissen A, Kardos P, Ko ¨hler D, et al. Guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of COPD issued by Deutsche Atemwegsliga and Deutsche Gesellschaft fu ¨r Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin. Pneumologie 2007; 61: e1-40.
  5. [63]63. Leucht M, Komossa K, Heres S, Kissling W, Davis JM. An update on relapse prevention with antipsychotic drugs compared to placebo (abstract). Schizophr Res, in press.

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Authors
Leucht, S., Hierl, S., Kissling, W., Dold, M., & Davis, J. M.
Affiliations
  • TUM Klinikum (DE)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (US)
Corresponding author
Leucht, Stefan
Venue
British Journal of Psychiatry
Published
2012-02
Volume
200
Issue
2
Pages
97-106
ISSN
  • 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-1465
OpenAlex
W2101652281
Cited by
451
References
202
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 16
FWCI
10.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
psychotropic drugs, placebo response, effect size, adverse drug reactions
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Humans, Placebos, Psychiatry, Psychotropic Drugs, Review Literature as Topic, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Bias, Databases, Bibliographic, Outcome Assessment, Health Care

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