SynthesisEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2024
The risks of adverse events with venlafaxine for adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials with meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.
Synthesis in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The risks of adverse events with mirtazapine for adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Venlafaxine reduces hot flashes in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients receiving tamoxifen: a prospective single-arm, open-label trial.Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) · 2026Trial
- Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Esketamine Nasal Spray in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Retrospective Observational Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The post-marketing safety of venlafaxine: a real-world two-decade pharmacovigilance study using the FAERS database.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Phenotype-guided selection of venlafaxine and topiramate for vestibular migraine: a narrative review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Double counting, double standards.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
- Investigating depression in multiple sclerosis: an Italian Delphi consensus on clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- HIV-associated depression: a translational framework targeting neuroimmune inflammation and psychosocial stress modulation.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsVenlafaxine is used to treat depression worldwide. Previous reviews have demonstrated that venlafaxine lowers scores on depression rating scales, producing statistically significant results but the relevance to patients remains uncertain. Knowledge of the incidence of the adverse effects associated with venlafaxine has previously been based on the results of non-randomised studies. Our primary objective was to assess the risks of adverse events with venlafaxine in the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder in randomised trials.
methodsWe searched relevant databases and other sources from inception to 7 March 2024 for randomised clinical trials comparing venlafaxine versus placebo or no intervention in adults with major depressive disorder. Data were synthesised using meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis. The primary outcomes were suicides or suicide attempts, serious adverse events and non-serious adverse events.
resultsWe included 28 trials randomising 6,253 participants to venlafaxine versus placebo. All results were at high risk of bias, and the certainty of the evidence was very low. All trials assessed outcomes at a maximum of 12 weeks after randomisation. Meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis showed insufficient information to assess the effects of venlafaxine on the risks of suicides or suicide attempts. Meta-analysis showed evidence of harm of venlafaxine versus placebo on serious adverse events (risk ratio: 2.66; 95% confidence interval: 1.67-4.25;
conclusionsShort-term results show that venlafaxine has uncertain effects on the risks of suicides but increases the risks of serious adverse events (especially sexual dysfunction and anorexia) and many non-serious adverse events. The long-term effects of venlafaxine for major depressive disorder are unknown. It is a particular cause for concern that there are no data on the long-term adverse effects of venlafaxine given that so many people use these drugs for several years.
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Registered trials
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.