Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Pharmaceutical Management for Adults With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The current clinical guidelines on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recommend selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) of drugs. However, there is uncertainty about the efficacy of other drugs and selecting which treatments work best for which patients. This meta-analysis evaluated efficacy and acceptability of pharmaceutical management for adults with PTSD. Randomized-controlled trials, which reported active comparators and placebo-controlled trials of pharmaceutical management for adults with PTSD, from the Ovid Medline, EMBase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, Ovid Health and Psychosocial Instruments, and ISIWeb of Science, were searched until June 21, 2019. In terms of efficacy, all active drugs demonstrated superior effect than placebo (SMD = −0.33; 95% CI, −0.43 to −0.23). The medications were superior to placebo in reducing the symptom of re-experiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal, depression, and anxiety. For acceptability, medicine interventions for PTSD showed no increase in all-cause discontinuation compared with placebo. Nevertheless, in terms of safety, medicine interventions indicated a higher risk of adverse effect compared with placebo (RR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.24 to 1.75). Compared with placebo, the SSRIs and atypical antipsychotics drugs had significant efficacy whether in patients with severe or extremely severe PTSD status. However, only atypical antipsychotics (SMD = −0.29, 95% CI: −0.48 to −0.10) showed superior efficacy than placebo in veterans. Medication management could be effective in intervention of PTSD, which demonstrated a sufficient improvement in the core symptoms. This meta-analysis supports the status of SSRIs and SNRIs as recommended pharmacotherapy. However, patients with different clinical characteristics of PTSD should consider individualized drug management.