Imperial College London
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Professor Shoumitro (Shoumi) Deb

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences

Visiting Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 3313 4161s.deb CV

 
 
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Location

 

Commonwealth BuildingHammersmith Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@misc{Deb:2022,
author = {Deb, S and Limbu, B and Roy, M and Lee, R and Majid, M and Santambrogio, J and Roy, A and Bertelli, M},
title = {Randomised controlled trials of antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications for people with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.},
type = {Poster},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - GEN
AB  - Background Around 17% of people with ASD are prescribed antidepressants and 7% antianxiety medications despite limited evidence of their efficacy.Aims We have carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of the RCTs that assessed the effectiveness of antidepressants and antianxiety medications in people with ASD of all ages.Method We have searched the following databases: Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, DARE, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Additionally, we have hand-searched 11 relevant journals in the field of intellectual disabilities, ASD and psychopharmacology. The quality of the included papers was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and Jadad score. We have also carried out a meta-analysis using a random-effects model.Results We have found 15 RCTs (13 on antidepressants and two on antianxiety medication buspirone) that included a total of 958 people with ASD primarily children and adolescents. There were four RCTs on fluoxetine, two each on clomipramine, venlafaxine, fluvoxamine, and one each on citalopram, sertraline and agomelatine. RCTs assessed efficacy of these medications on ASD core symptoms and associated behaviours such as agitation, irritability, and aggression rather than psychiatric disorders like anxiety or depression. Data showed contradictory findings among the studies with larger studies mostly showing a non-significant difference in outcomes between the treatment and the placebo group. Meta-analysis of pooled Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale and Clinical Global Impression Scale data from nine studies (60%) did not show any statistically significant intergroup difference on either of the outcome measures. The adverse effects reported were mild and, in most studies, their rates did not show any significant intergroup difference.Conclusions It is difficult to draw any definitive conclusion about the effectiveness of either antidepressants or antianxiety medications to treat either ASD core symptoms or assoc
AU  - Deb,S
AU  - Limbu,B
AU  - Roy,M
AU  - Lee,R
AU  - Majid,M
AU  - Santambrogio,J
AU  - Roy,A
AU  - Bertelli,M
PY  - 2022///
TI  - Randomised controlled trials of antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications for people with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
ER  -
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