Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Double-blind placebo-controlled randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion in the review. Uncontrolled medication trials, studies examining the effects of SSRIs on biological challenge procedures, case reports, long-term or follow-up studies, and articles reviewing several studies that were published separately, were excluded.
Specific interventions included in the review
Comparisons of SSRIs (paroxetine, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline and citalopram) with placebo were included.
Participants included in the review
People with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia. No further details of the participants were provided.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The effect sizes were calculated for all dependent variables at post-treatment, excluding measures of depression symptoms. A separate panic frequency effect size (for full panic attacks only) was also calculated. The drop-out rates, and the percentage of participants who were free of panic at end point were also reported. No further details of the outcome measures reported in the included studies were provided.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the reviewers performed the selection.