Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39180628›Full record

SynthesisIndian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology2025

Efficacy of antidepressants in functional dyspepsia: Systematic review and meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Suresh Shanmugham, Mohammed Zuber, Jia En Chan, Suresh Kumar, Siew Mooi Ching, Yeong Yeh Lee, Harsha Vadakkechalil, Sajesh K Veettil

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Suresh ShanmughamDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, IMU University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0002-3386-7941
Mohammed ZuberClinical and Administrative Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Jia En ChanDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, IMU University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Suresh KumarDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, IMU University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0002-2806-1986
Siew Mooi ChingDepartment of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0002-4425-7989
Yeong Yeh LeeSchool of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Malaysia.ORCID 0000-0002-6486-7717
Harsha VadakkechalilDistrict Mental Health Program, Ministry of Health, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 005, India.
Sajesh K VeettilDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, IMU University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. sajeshveettil@imu.edu.my.ORCID 0000-0002-7009-7907

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe beneficial effects of using antidepressants in improving functional dyspepsia (FD) symptoms have been reported in previous meta-analyses; however, the results have not been conclusive. The aim was to perform an updated meta-analysis coupled with trial sequential analysis (TSA) to assess the efficacy of the use of any antidepressants in the treatment of FD in adults.

methodsElectronic databases were searched up to March 2024 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) recruiting adults with FD. Data of overall symptoms improved between the antidepressants and placebo groups was pooled to obtain risk ratio (RR) employing the random-effects model. The effect of random errors was evaluated with TSA. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence. Analyses were performed using STATA version 16.0.

resultsNine RCTs with 924 patients met the eligible criteria. The RRs of FD symptoms improving with any antidepressants, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were (n = 9, RR = 1.30 [95% CI, 1.02-1.67]), (n = 5, RR = 1.41 [95% CI, 1.07-1.85]) and (n = 2, RR = 0.97 [95% CI, 0.72-1.29]), respectively. TSA demonstrated conclusive evidence for the beneficial effect of TCAs. The number needed to treat (NNT) with any depressants and TCAs were 11 (95% CI, 7-36) and 6 (95% CI, 4-15), respectively. The certainty of the evidence for an effect of TCAs was that of moderate GRADE quality. The benefit, however, was limited to the western population (n = 3, RR = 1.43 [95% CI, 1.04-1.96]) and did not extend to the Asian population (n = 2, RR = 1.32 [95% CI, 0.75-2.32]). Conversely, antidepressant-using patients experienced adverse events more frequently. However, no statistically significant association was found between TCAs and any adverse events (n = 3; RR = 1.36 [95% CI, 0.91-2.04]).

conclusionEvidence was obtained suggesting TCAs can be an effective alternative in the treatment of FD, but more evidence from high-quality large trials is required to support their use, especially in the Asian population.

Indexed as

Antidepressive AgentsAntidepressive Agents, TricyclicDyspepsiaAdultFemaleHumansMaleRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsTreatment OutcomeAntidepressive AgentsAntidepressive Agents, TricyclicSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsAntidepressantsFunctional dyspepsiaMeta-analysisRandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID39180628

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.