Methods	6 week randomised double blind study
Participants	Diagnosis: DSM-III major depressive disorder Setting: Outpatients
Interventions	1. Mirtazapine: 5-35 mg/day, N = 50 2. Amitriptlyline: 40-280 mg/day, N = 50 3. Placebo, N = 50 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, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale
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	Low risk	Less than 20% of the participants dropped out and missing outcome data are balanced in numbers across intervention groups, with similar reasons of missing data across groups
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	The response outcome at the end of acute-phase treatment is provided as the proportion of the participants who achieved this
Free of Sponsorship bias?	High risk	The funding source is the pharmaceutical company of mirtazapine