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. 2008 Aug 1;8:29. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-8-29

Table 2.

Summary of efficacy in antidepressant meta-analysis

Number of Percent with

Antidepressant Outcome Trials Patients Placebo Active Relative benefit (95% CI) NNT (95% CI)
Duloxetine 60/120 mg at least 50% pain relief 3 1,024 27 47 1.7 (1.4 to 2.1) 5.1 (3.9 to 7.3)
Amitriptyline all doses global improvement 10 588 32 64 2.0 (1.6 to 2.4) 3.2 (2.6 to 4.2)
Other antidepressants global improvement 3 216 12 50 4.2 (2.5 to 7.0) 2.6 (2.0 to 3.7)
Venlafaxine all doses global improvement 3 200 25 57 2.3 (1.6 to 3.4) 3.1 (2.2 to 5.1)
Desipramine all doses global improvement 2 78 10 59 5.8 (2.2 to 15) 2.1 (1.5 to 3.3)
Imipramine all doses global improvement 2 58 5 97 19 (3.9 to 89) 1.1 (1.0 to 1.2)

NNT – Number need to treat