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The British Journal of Psychiatry 166: 378-381 (1995)
© 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Comparison of carbamazepine and lithium in the prophylaxis of bipolar disorders. A meta-analysis

R Dardennes, C Even, F Bange and A Heim
Clinique des maladies mentales et de l'encephale, Hopital Sainte Anne, Paris, France.

BACKGROUND. This meta-analysis assessed the equipotency of carbamazepine and lithium prophylaxis in bipolar disorder. METHOD. We selected only randomised, double-blind, controlled studies comparing carbamazepine with lithium from a manual and computerised search, and subjected them to a quality inventory. Their statistical results were weighted by their quality score and combined. RESULTS. Four studies met our criteria, yielding, overall, P = 0.15. This result is not straightforward because the studies showed significant heterogeneity (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION. Differences in statistical power and sensitivity of outcome measure explain this heterogeneity and the conflicting results of the studies. Therefore, the prophylactic efficacy of carbamazepine remains questionable.


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