De Ronchi 1998.

Methods	Ten‐week double‐blind, randomised, multicentre study
Participants	In‐ and outpatients fulfilling DSM‐III‐R criteria for major depressive disorder, with a score of at least 16 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression‐17 item (HDRS‐17). Age: over 60 years Exclusion criteria: mental organic disorder, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) less than 24, high suicide risk, history of alcohol or drug abuse, severe physical illness, epilepsy, schizophrenia.
Interventions	Fluoxetine: 32 participants Amitriptyline: 33 participants Fluoxetine dose: 20 mg/day Amitriptyline dose range: 50‐100 mg/day Patients taking lorazepam 5 mg/day for at least 6 months before enrolment were allowed to continue; triazolam was allowed (0.25 mg/day) during the first 2 weeks for insomnia
Outcomes	HDRS‐17, Montgomery and Asberg Scale for Depression (MADRS), Covi Anxiety Scale (CAS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Severity and Improvement
Notes	Response: decrease of at least 50% in the HDRS‐17 total score or a total score less than 10 Funding: unclear
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote: "randomised trial", no further information
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information provided
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Insufficient information
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Double blind, no further information
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Quote: "all ratings were conducted under double blind condition", no further information
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	Rating scale scores reported without denominators. Number and reasons for discontinuation not clear
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Incidence of adverse effects not clear
Other bias	Unclear risk	Funding: unclear