Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included.
Specific interventions included in the review
Tricyclic drugs: amitriptyline, clomipramine, desipramine, imipramine and nortriptyline.
Participants included in the review
Children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years, diagnosed as having a depressive illness and an IQ over 80. Participants were treated on either an inpatient or outpatient basis, and were both male and female.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Two main outcomes were evaluated by the authors: effect size and the number of patients showing improvement. Most studies had multiple outcome measures so the best available outcome was used for pooling. The outcome measures in the individual studies were: depressive adjective checklist, children's depression inventory, children's depression rating scale, schedule for affective disorder and schizophrenia for school-aged children.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
By whom, and how, these criteria were applied is not stated, but participant inclusion criteria had to be met. Patients had to have been randomised to a tricyclic antidepressant (and no other pharmacological intervention) or a placebo. Studies in which patients were both adults and adolescents were excluded.