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omega-3 Fatty acid treatment of women with borderline personality disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study

Zanarini MC, Frankenburg FR

The American journal of psychiatry, 2003

30 participants

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid (E-EPA) and placebo in the treatment of female subjects with borderline personality disorder.

METHOD: The authors conducted an 8-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of E-EPA in 30 female subjects meeting Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder.

RESULTS: Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to 1 g of E-EPA; 10 subjects were given placebo. Ninety percent of those in both groups completed all 8 weeks of the trial. Analyses that used random-effects regression modeling and controlled for baseline severity showed E-EPA to be superior to placebo in diminishing aggression as well as the severity of depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that E-EPA may be a safe and effective form of monotherapy for women with moderately severe borderline personality disorder.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 30 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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