Browsing by Subject "antidepressant"

Objectives. The aim of the bachelor’s thesis was to examine how many studies of antidepressant trials remain unpublished and whether outcomes of published and unpublished trials differ – that is, whether the publication bias affects the publication of antidepressant studies. Publication bias occurs when positive or expected results are more likely to be published than negative or unexpected ones. The use of antidepressants is constantly increasing, which is why it is also important to study and make more transparent the reliability of related research. Methods. The study was conducted as a literature review. The final data of the study consisted of four peer-reviewed studies, which were searched in five different databases during May 2022. The analysis of the data was carried out qualitatively. Results and conclusions. The results of this study suggest that publication bias highlights the positive results of antidepressant trials. Less than a third of negative results end up being published, with almost all positive results being published. Thus, the available research does not really correspond to all the research that has been done, as a result of which the efficacy of antidepressants is probably judged to be better than the truth. Despite the actions taken to eradicate the bias, the phenomenon can still be considered a significant problem, although some improvement may have taken place.