Outcomes by Treatment Type
Table 3 shows the proportion of positive trials by major
treatment category. A positive study was defined as one in
which the treatment group fared better than the control group
on at least one of the three patient-centered outcomes. The one
treatment for which there seems to be convincing evidence is
CBT, which proved beneficial for at least one outcome in 11
of 13 trials. Of the five trials examining antidepressants, four
were positive (two trials of St. John’s wort and one of opipramol
for SD-spectrum disorders and one trial of fluoxetine
for BDD), whereas one was equivocal for the primary outcome
but positive for at least one secondary patient-centered
outcome (venlafaxine for SD-spectrum disorders). It should be
noted that all antidepressant trials specified a primary outcome,
whereas many nonpharmacological studies did not specify a
primary outcome but simply reported multiple outcomes.