Methods	Twenty-six-week double-blind, randomised, multicentre study.
Participants	Outpatients (primary care) fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder, with a MADRS score of at least 20. Age range: 18-65 years. Exclusion criteria: Pregnancy, lactation, failure to use a safetable contraceptive method; concurrent major psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety disorder, dementia, somatoform disorders, agoraphobia, social phobia, any history of schizophrenia, psychosis or personality disorder; severe concurrent medical illness; alcohol or drug dependence; serious adverse reactions related to medicines; pprevious treatment with antidepressant for less than 3 week; major suicide risk
Interventions	Fluoxetine: 120 participants. Sertraline: 122 participants. Fluoxetine dose range: 20-60 mg/day. Sertraline dose range: 50-150 mg/day.
Outcomes	Montgomery and Asberg Scale for Depression and Clinical Global Impression
Notes	Response: decrease of at least 50% in the MADRS total score. Funding: by industry
Risk of bias
Item	Authors’ judgement	Description
Allocation concealment?	Unclear	B - Unclear