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Category: Project

Description: Relapse prevention trials build the scientific foundation for recommendation of antidepressant continuation and maintenance therapy. However, the validity of the evidence is disputed and may be biased due to withdrawal confounding. We digitised and analysed the survival curves (time-to-event data) from all antidepressant relapse prevention trials submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration between 1987 and 2012. The main outcome was the percentage of the drug effect (antidepressant-placebo difference in relapse events) at any week of the maintenance phase in relation to the total drug effect at the end of the randomised maintenance phase.