Omega-3 fatty acids as treatments for mental illness: which disorder and which fatty acid?

Ross, Brian M.; Seguin, Jennifer; Sieswerda, Lee E.

doi:10.1186/1476-511X-6-21

Lipids in Health and Disease

Table 1 Double blind placebo-controlled trials of omega-3 fatty acids upon attention and hyperactivity in disorders diagnosed in childhood.

From: Omega-3 fatty acids as treatments for mental illness: which disorder and which fatty acid?

*Ref*	*Jadad score*	*Disorder*	*Meds*	*Age*	*Gen*	*Omega-3 fatty acid*	*Prep type*	*Duration*	N	*Outcomemeasure*	*Average baseline score*	Δ	*Statistical significance vs. placebo*
25	4	ADHD	100%	9	22%	345 mg/day EPA	Crude Mixture	4 months	54	CBC-Attention	66	+0.4	No
28	5	ADHD	15%	9	20%	100 mg/day EPA 512 mg/day DHA	Crude mixture in food	2 months	40	#DSM-Attention	9.5	-1	No
										#DSM-Hyperactivity	2	0	No
29	5	LD	NS	10	20%	186 mg/day EPA 480 mg/day DHA²	Crude mixture	12 weeks	29	CPRS DSM-Attention	63	-4.6	Yes
										CPRS DSM-Hyperactivity	67	-1.0	No
30	3	'ADHD-like'	79%	10	12%	80 mg/day EPA 480 mg/day DHA¹	Crude mixture	4 months	47	PDBDS-Attention	22	+0.2	No
										PDBDS-Hyperactivity	22	-0.6	No
32	5	DCD	0%	9	33%	558 mg/day EPA 174 mg/day DHA³	Crude mixture	12 weeks	117	CPRS DSM-Attention	65	-3.5	Yes⁴
										CPRS DSM-Hyperactivity	61	-3.8	Yes⁴
										Spelling age (months)	94	+5.4	Yes
										Reading age (months)	97	+6.2	Yes
34	4	Autism	0%	10	18%	840 mg/day EPA 700 mg/day DHA	Crude mixture	6 weeks	13	ABC-Hyperactivity	29	-7.0	No

ADHD, LD and DCD are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning Difficulties and Developmental Coordination Disorder respectively. Δ refers to the difference between the change from baseline values for placebo and treatment groups (change from baseline symptom scores for the omega-3 fatty acid group minus change from baseline scores for the placebo group). Trial quality was assessed using Jadad design quality scores which can range from 0 to 5 with 5 being best. Outcome measures are CBC – Attention: Child Behaviour Checklist – Attention Subscale; PDBDS – Attention/Hyperactivity: Attention or Hyperactivity Subscale of Parents Disruptive Behaviour Disorder Scale, #DSM – Attention/Hyperactivity: Number of DSM ADHD Attention or Hyperactivity symptoms present, CPRS DSM – Attention/Hyperactivity: DSM Attention/Hyperactivity Subscale of Conner's Parent Rating Scale Clinical Global Impression, ABC-hyperactivity: Aberrant Behaviours Checklist [34] For reading and spelling age a higher age is better hence positive Δ indicates improvement over placebo, for all other scales 0 is best hence negative Δ indicates improvement over placebo. The average baseline score is the average of the omega-3 and placebo group scores at the start of the trial. Age refers to the average age in years of the active and placebo groups. Gen (gender) refers to the % of female participants in the trial. Meds refers to the percentage of trial participants who were in receipt of conventional medications for attentional deficit or hyperactivity. Prep. type describes whether a crude oil mixture or a purified fatty acid was used. Notes: ^1–3 Formulation also delivered omega-6 fatty acids: ¹ 40 mg/day arachidonic acid and 96 mg/day gamma linoleic acid, ² 96 mg/day gamma linoleic acid, 864 mg/day linoleic acid and 42 mg/day arachidonic acid, ³ 60 mg/day linoleic acid. ⁴ According to the report it is unclear as to whether statistical significance was calculated using raw scores rather than transformed t-scores. Using the data in the paper the statistical significance of the t-score comparison cannot be calculated.

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ISSN: 1476-511X

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