Table 4.
Double blind placebo-controlled trials of omega-3 fatty acids upon in mood disorders.
| Ref | Jadad score | Disorder | Meds | Age | Gen | Omega-3 fatty acid | Prep type | Duration | N | Outcome measure | Average baseline score | Δ | Statistical significant difference |
| 66 | 5 | MDD | 100% | 50 | 81% | 1 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 34 | HDRS | 20 | -3.8 | Yes |
| 2 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 35 | HDRS | 20 | +0.3 | No | ||||||
| 4 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 34 | HDRS | 19 | -0.3 | No | ||||||
| 68 | 3 | MDD | 100% | 53 | 85% | 2 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 4 weeks | 20 | HDRS | 22 | -10.8 | Yes |
| 69 | 4 | MDD | 100% | 38 | 80% | 2.2 g/day EPA 1.1 g/day DHA |
Crude mixture | 8 weeks | 22 | HDRS | 22 | -7.2 | Yes |
| 71 | 4 | CD | 0% | 10 | 25% | 0.4 g/day EPA1 0.2 g/day DHA |
Crude mixture | 16 weeks | 20 | CDRS | 69 | -25 | Yes |
| 74 | 2 | MDD | 0% | 47 | 80% | 2 g/day DHA | Crude mixture | 6 weeks | 35 | HDRS | 26 | -2.3 | No |
| 75 | 3 | MDD | 79% | 39 | 79% | 0.6 g/day EPA 2.4 g/day DHA |
Crude mixture | 12 weeks | 77 | HDRS | 12 | +0.6 | No |
| 77 | 3 | BD | 100% | 43 | 66% | 6.2 g/day EPA 3.4 g/day DHA |
Crude mixture | 4 months | 30 | YMRS | 7 | +1.3 | No |
| HDRS | 11 | -7.7 | Yes | ||||||||||
| 80 | 5 | BD | 100% | 47 | 76% | 1 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 50 | YMRS | 6 | -3.62 | No |
| HDRS | 15 | -3.6 | No | ||||||||||
| 2 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 51 | YMRS | 5 | -12 | No | ||||||
| HDRS | 15 | -3 | No | ||||||||||
| 1 and 2 g/day groups combined | Ethyl ester | 12 weeks | 51 | YMRS | 6 | -2.32 | No | ||||||
| HDRS | 15 | -3.3 | Yes | ||||||||||
| 81 | 5 | BD | 100% | 45 | 85% | 6 g/day EPA | Ethyl ester | 16 weeks | 116 | IDS | NS | -0.4 | No |
| YMRS | NS | +0.6 | No | ||||||||||
| 86 | 5 | PPD | 0% | 31 | 100% | 0.2 g/day DHA | Crude mixture | 4 months | 89 | BDI | 7 | +0.4 | No |
MDD, CD, PPD and BD are major depressive disorder, childhood depression, post partum depression and bipolar disorder respectively. Δ refers to the difference between the change from baseline values for placebo and treatment groups (change from baseline symptom scores for the omega-3 fatty acid group minus change from baseline scores for the placebo group). Since for all scales zero is better, a negative value indicates a better than placebo response. Trial quality was assessed using Jadad design quality scores which can range from 0 to 5 with 5 being best. Outcome measures are HDRS: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, YMRS: Young Mania Rating Scale, CDRS – Children's Depression Rating Scale, IDS – Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology. The average baseline score is the average of the omega-3 and placebo group scores at the start of the trial. Age refers to the mean age in years of the active and placebo groups. Gen (gender) refers to the % of female participants in the trial. Notes: 1 Some children received a different capsule size resulting in a dose of 0.38 g EPA/day and 0.18 g DHA/day, 2 Although the omega-3 fatty acid group performed better than placebo on the YMRS it should be noted that the mania symptoms worsened in both omega-3 PUFA and placebo groups during the trial.