What do systematic reviews say?

Antidepressants vs placebo

Antidepressants probably leads to higher number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antidepressants versus placebo for panic disorder in adults 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.49 [1.25, 1.78]
  33 studies · 7688 participants
  Moderate

Antidepressants vs benzodiazepines

Antidepressants may leads to higher number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with benzodiazepines (low certainty).

• Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.72 [1.03, 2.87]
  3 studies · 1002 participants
  Low

Antidepressants plus benzodiazepines vs antidepressants alone

Antidepressants plus benzodiazepines probably leads to lower adverse effects (dropouts) compared with antidepressants alone (moderate certainty).

• Antidepressants plus benzodiazepines for adults with major depression 2019 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.54 [0.32, 0.9]
  10 studies · 731 participants
  Moderate

Antidepressants vs a combination of medications

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Tricyclic antidepressants vs placebo

Tricyclic antidepressants probably leads to higher number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antidepressants versus placebo for panic disorder in adults 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.97 [1.33, 2.91]
  10 studies · 1641 participants
  Moderate

Tricyclic antidepressants vs placebo

The review found no eligible studies for this question.

• Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  Studies not reported
  No studies found

Tricyclic antidepressants vs another medication

Tricyclic antidepressants showed no clear difference in adverse effects (drop‐outs due to adverse effects4) compared with another medication (low certainty).

• Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 2.37 [0.39, 14.28]
  8 studies · 556 participants
  Low

New‐generation antidepressants vs placebo

New‐generation antidepressants showed no clear difference in adverse effects (drop‐outs due to adverse effects) compared with placebo (low certainty).

• Pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders in adults 2014 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 2.26 [0.52, 9.81]
  2 studies · 163 participants
  Low

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors vs placebo

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors probably leads to higher number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antidepressants versus placebo for panic disorder in adults 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.45 [1.16, 1.81]
  22 studies · 4131 participants
  Moderate

Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) vs placebo

Serotonin‐norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors showed no clear difference in number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antidepressants versus placebo for panic disorder in adults 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.49 [0.92, 2.4]
  4 studies · 1531 participants
  Moderate

Tricyclic antidepressants vs benzodiazepines

TCAs may leads to higher number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with benzodiazepines (low certainty).

• Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 2.1 [1.13, 3.93]
  2 studies · 848 participants
  Low

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors vs benzodiazepines

It is very uncertain whether SSRIs changes number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with benzodiazepines (very low certainty).

• Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.2 [0.55, 2.61]
  1 study · 154 participants
  Very low

Tricyclic antidepressants vs SSRI

TCAs showed no clear difference in number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with SSRI (low certainty).

• Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.43 [0.82, 2.48]
  5 studies · 476 participants
  Low

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors vs SNRIs

SSRIs showed no clear difference in number of dropouts due to adverse effects compared with SNRIs (low certainty).

• Antidepressants and benzodiazepines for panic disorder in adults 2016 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.86 [0.49, 7.05]
  2 studies · 991 participants
  Low

Intervention not reported

• Antidepressants for preventing postnatal depression 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 22 participants
  Very low

Intervention not reported

• Antidepressants for preventing postnatal depression 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  1 study · 51 participants
  Very low

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors vs tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

It is very uncertain whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) changes adverse effects during antidepressant treatment period (0‐12 weeks) compared with tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) (very low certainty).

• Antidepressants for depression in adults with HIV infection 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.05 [0.67, 1.64]
  1 study · 14 participants
  Very low

Antidepressants vs placebo

It is very uncertain whether antidepressant changes adverse effects during antidepressant treatment period (0‐12 weeks) compared with placebo (very low certainty).

• Antidepressants for depression in adults with HIV infection 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.88 [0.64, 1.21]
  2 studies · 167 participants
  Very low