In a new study, researchers question the long-term use of antidepressants, given that clinical trials of the drugs typically last eight weeks.
“Substantial discordance exists between the typical 8-week duration of clinical trials and the median 5-year real-world use of antidepressants,” they write.
According to the researchers, this is especially problematic because those trials also fail in other ways, including using nonstandard measures, unblinding, and not assessing withdrawal and adverse effects.
“This gap, compounded by inadequate monitoring for withdrawal effects and post-treatment outcomes, raises important questions about the evidence supporting current long-term prescribing practices,” they write.
The study was conducted by William Ward at Ottumwa Regional Health Center, Iowa, and Alyson Haslam and Vinay Prasad at the University of California, San Francisco. It was posted as a preprint (before peer review) on the website medRxiv.
