The DOI matches its Crossref record; 195 of the 202 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Putting the efficacy of psychiatric and general medicine medication into perspective: review of meta-analyses
Open accessAbstract
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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“These medications, which are as efficacious, or more efficacious, than many medications used for non-psychiatric disorders (Leucht et al., 2012)”
From The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement: 208 Evidence-based conclusions about the disorder (2021) · cites this paper as Leucht et al., 2012
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Cites
10 retracted
Metformin monotherapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus
Sáenz, A., Fernandez-Esteban, I., Mataix, A. L., Segura, M. A., Figuls, M. R. I., & Moher, D. (2005) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002966.pub3 · Cited by 310
RetractedMedical treatments in the short term management of reflux oesophagitis
Moayyedi, P., Santana, J. O., Khan, M., Preston, C., & Donnellan, C. F. (2011) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003244.pub3 · Cited by 239
RetractedPropranolol for migraine prophylaxis
Linde, K., & Rossnagel, K. (2004) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003225.pub2 · Cited by 196
RetractedFaris, R. F., Flather, M. D., Purcell, H., Poole-Wilson, P. A., & Coats, A. J. S. (2016) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003838.pub4 · Cited by 194
RetractedMedical treatments in the short term management of reflux oesophagitis
Moayyedi, P., Santana, J. O., Khan, M., Preston, C., & Donnellan, C. F. (2007) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003244.pub2 · Cited by 173
RetractedDonnellan, C. F., Preston, C., Moayyedi, P., & Sharma, N. (2010) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003245.pub3 · Cited by 150
RetractedDonnellan, C. F., Preston, C., Moayyedi, P., & Sharma, N. (2004) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003245.pub2 · Cited by 122
RetractedFaris, R. F., Flather, M. D., Purcell, H., Poole-Wilson, P. A., & Coats, A. J. S. (2006) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003838.pub2 · Cited by 81
RetractedOral sumatriptan for acute migraine
McCrory, D. C., & Gray, R. N. (2003) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002915 · Cited by 73
RetractedCelecoxib for rheumatoid arthritis
Garner, S. E., Fidan, D., Frankish, R. R., Judd, M., Shea, B., Towheed, T., Tugwell, P., & Wells, G. A. (2002) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003831 · Cited by 67
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Flagged first, then by citations
7 of the 202 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- 2006, Parkinson's Disease. National Clinical Guideline for Diagnosis and Management in Primary and Secondary Care
- 2008, Review Manager (RevMan) [Computer program] Version 5.0
- 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.
- Kirsch, 2010, The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploring the Antidepressant Myth
- Möller, 2009, Duale Reihe Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
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- Herold, 2009, Innere Medizin
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- Breggin, 2008, Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide, and Crime
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development
Patel, V., Saxena, S., Lund, C., Thornicroft, G., Baingana, F., Bolton, P., Chisholm, D., Collins, P. Y., Cooper, J. L., Eaton, J., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31612-x · Cited by 3,692
Faraone, S. V., Banaschewski, T., Coghill, D., Zheng, Y., Biederman, J., Bellgrove, M. A., Newcorn, J. H., Gignac, M., Al Saud, N. M., Manor, I., et al. (2021) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.022 · Cited by 1,545
“These medications, which are as efficacious, or more efficacious, than many medications used for non-psychiatric disorders (Leucht et al., 2012), are classified as either stimulants (methylphenidate and amphetamine) or non-stimulants (atom-oxetine, extended release guanfacine, and extended release…”
Goodwin, G., Haddad, P. M., Ferrier, I. N., Aronson, J., Barnes, T., Cipriani, A., Coghill, D., Fazel, S., Geddes, J. R., Grunze, H., et al. (2016) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881116636545 · Cited by 1,350
“Effect sizes in psychiatry, in common with the rest of medicine, are moderate (Leucht et al., 2012) but deliver worthwhile patient benefit.”
Time for united action on depression: a Lancet–World Psychiatric Association Commission
Herrman, H., Patel, V., Kieling, C., Berk, M., Buchweitz, C., Cuijpers, P., Furukawa, T. A., Kessler, R. C., Kohrt, B. A., Maj, M., et al. (2022) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02141-3 · Cited by 1,104
Cleare, A., Pariante, C., Young, A., Anderson, I., Christmas, D., Cowen, P., Dickens, C., Ferrier, I., Geddes, J., Gilbody, S., et al. (2015) · Journal of Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1177/0269881115581093 · Cited by 759
“It is important to place the effect sizes of antidepressants into context as being similar to those seen for treatments used in medicine as a whole (Leucht et al., 2012).”
Background
Metadata
- 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
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2012-02
- Volume
- 200
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 97-106
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2101652281
- Semantic Scholar
- 68218f1e65e6903db144e3aec0175e90671d7c26
- 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
- bronze
- doi.org
- 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
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › 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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