Summary of findings 3.
Venlafaxine compared to no treatment for people with epilepsy and depression
| Venlafaxine compared to no treatment for people with epilepsy and depression | ||||||
| Patient or population: people with epilepsy and depression Settings: outpatients Intervention: venlafaxine Comparison: no treatment | ||||||
| Outcomes | Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | No of participants (studies) | Quality of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Assumed risk | Corresponding risk | |||||
| No treatment | Venlafaxine | |||||
| > 50% reduction in depressive symptoms | 125 per 1000 | 406 per 1000 (149 to 1000) | RR 3.25 (1.19 to 8.9) | 64 (1 study) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝1 moderate |
1 study compared venlafaxine to a no treatment control group and found that venlafaxine was more than 3 times more effective in reducing seizures compared to controls |
| Mean depression scores ‐ HAMD | The mean HAMD depression score in the intervention groups was 7.59 lower (‐11.52 to ‐3.66 lower) | 64 (1 study) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝1 moderate | The same study found mean depression scores to be significantly lower in the venlafaxine group compared to the control group | ||
| Seizure frequency | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 0 (0 studies) |
‐ | No data contributed to this outcome |
| Withdrawals | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 0 (0 studies) | ‐ | No data contributed to this outcome |
| Cognitive functioning | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 0 (0 studies) |
‐ | No data contributed to this outcome |
| Quality of life | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 0 (0 studies) |
‐ | No data contributed to this outcome |
| Adverse effects | ‐ | ‐ | ‐ | 0 (0 studies) |
‐ | No data contributed to this outcome |
| *The basis for the assumed risk (e.g. the median control group risk across studies) is provided in footnotes. The corresponding risk (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; HAMD: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; RR: risk ratio | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect. Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate. Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate. | ||||||
1Quality downgraded for imprecision due to only one study contributing to the outcomes and it was a small study.