Methods	8 week randomised double blind study
Participants	Diagnosis: DSM-IV major depressive disorder Setting: Unclear
Interventions	1. Mirtazapine: 30-45 mg/day, N = 176 2. Sertraline: 50-150 mg/day, N = 170 Flexible dosing scheduling
Outcomes	The measure used for response and remission in the review: 17-item HAM-D Other measures: MADRS, CGI-Improvement, CGI-Severity
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors’ judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote: “randomised” Comment: No further information provided.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: The method of concealment is not described.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Quote: “double-blind” Comment: No further information provided.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	More than 20% of the allocated participants to both of the intervention arms dropped out during the study
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Both the response and the remission outcomes are reported in the figures with the actual numbers of the participants who achieved these
Free of Sponsorship bias?	High risk	The funding source is the pharmaceutical company of mirtazapine