Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised, placebo-controlled trials.
Specific interventions included in the review
Antidepressants including dothiepin (150mg/day), amitriptyline (30-75mg/day), femoxetine (400mg/day), zimelidine (200mg/day), phenelzine (45mg/day), clomipramine/mianserin (150mg/60mg/day) and mianserin (up to 90mg/day).
Participants included in the review
Male and female patients diagnosed with psychogenic pain disorder or somatoform pain disorder, including pain in the face, back, neck, pain from tension headaches and pain of mixed etiology.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Pain intensity as measured using a pain rating scale. Pain rating scales used included the Visual Analog Scale, the McGill Visual Analog Scale and unspecified scales rating pain on 4 or 5 point scales. Other measures of pain intensity included the mean daily headache duration time, proportion of headache free time and a rating scale of minor, moderate or marked headaches. Studies which did not report sufficient information to enable a p value (based on change scores between pre-drug pain intensities and post-drug pain intensities) to be calculated for the drug/placebo comparison, were excluded from the review.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
Studies were assessed for relevance independently by two of the authors and discrepancies were resolved in conference.