Comparison 1. Antidepressants versus placebo.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 Remission	10	824	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.89 [0.84, 0.94]
1.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	3	132	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.86 [0.70, 1.07]
1.2 SSRIs versus placebo	3	467	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.90 [0.80, 1.02]
1.3 MAOIs versus placebo	2	98	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.81 [0.68, 0.96]
1.4 Other antidepressants versus placebo	2	127	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.86 [0.76, 0.97]
2 Clinical improvement	8	901	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.64 [0.54, 0.74]
2.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	2	44	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.29 [0.13, 0.63]
2.2 SSRIs versus placebo	3	706	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.68 [0.59, 0.79]
2.3 MAOIs versus placebo	1	24	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.29 [0.07, 1.10]
2.4 Other antidepressants versus placebo	2	127	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.61 [0.45, 0.83]
3 Difference in bulimic sypmtoms	6	259	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.25 [‐0.94, 0.44]
3.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	3	121	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.75 [‐1.12, ‐0.38]
3.2 SSRIs versus placebo	0	0	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
3.3 MAOIs versus placebo	3	138	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.22 [‐0.94, 1.37]
3.4 Other antidepressants versus placebo	0	0	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	0.0 [0.0, 0.0]
4 Drop‐outs due to adverse events	13	1200	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.65 [1.05, 2.57]
4.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	5	192	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	2.38 [0.76, 7.45]
4.2 SSRIs versus placebo	3	706	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.52 [0.83, 2.75]
4.3 MAOIs versus placebo	3	175	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	2.06 [0.45, 9.53]
4.4 Other antidepressants versus placebo	2	127	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.48 [0.28, 7.95]
5 Drop‐outs due to any cause	15	1335	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.98 [0.78, 1.24]
5.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	6	277	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	1.93 [1.15, 3.25]
5.2 SSRIs versus placebo	3	706	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.82 [0.68, 0.99]
5.3 MAOIs versus placebo	3	175	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.94 [0.61, 1.45]
5.4 Other antidepressants versus placebo	3	177	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Random, 95% CI)	0.94 [0.48, 1.83]
6 Difference in depression	8	323	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.19 [‐0.41, 0.03]
6.1 Tricyclics versus placebo	3	121	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.19 [‐0.55, 0.17]
6.2 SSRIs versus placebo	1	46	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.44 [‐1.03, 0.14]
6.3 MAOIs versus placebo	4	156	Std. Mean Difference (IV, Random, 95% CI)	‐0.14 [‐0.50, 0.22]