Summary of findings 5. Comparison 5: SNRIs versus placebo for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
| Comparison 5: SNRIs versus placebo for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | ||||||
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Population: adults (aged 18‐85)
Settings: multi‐centre trials
Intervention: SNRIs
Comparison: placebo Follow‐up: for one study at week 24 or at the time of discontinuation if before week 24; the remaining study did not specify follow‐up | ||||||
| Outcomes | Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | No of participants (studies) | Quality of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Assumed risk | Corresponding risk | |||||
| With placebo | With SNRIs | |||||
| Treatment efficacy ‐ treatment response, as measured by the Global Impressions scale change item (CGI‐I or similar): no. of responders (acute phase) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | We found no studies that looked at the number of participants who responded to venlafaxine versus placebo. |
| Treatment tolerability, as measured by Dropouts due to adverse events (acute phase) | Study population | RR 0.98 (0.88 to 1.10) | 687 (2 studies) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ very lowa,b | Dropout rates due to adverse events were low in the SNRI (4%) and placebo groups (3%) | |
| 26 per 1000 | 25 per 1000 (23 to 29) | |||||
| Moderate | ||||||
| 27 per 1000 | 26 per 1000 (24 to 30) | |||||
| *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;RR: risk ratio. N/A: Not applicable. | ||||||
| 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. | ||||||
aDowngraded by one level due to serious risk of bias (concerns with randomisation procedures). bDowngraded by two levels due to considerable heterogeneity (I2 of 92%).