The Study
Efficacy and safety profile of oral creatine monohydrate in add-on to cognitive-behavioural therapy in depression: An 8-week pilot, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled feasibility and exploratory trial in an under-resourced area.
This study gave some people a supplement and others a sugar pill, both with therapy, and found that the supplement group felt a bit better after 8 weeks. But it’s not proof it always works—it just hints that it might help.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
This study tested if adding a common sports supplement called creatine to therapy helps people with serious depression feel better faster.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 563 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — a 5.12-point drop on the depression scale is bigger than the smallest change doctors consider meaningful, meaning it likely matters to patients.
- 2People who took 5 grams of creatine daily with therapy had depression scores drop 5.12 points more than those who took a placebo with therapy.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Year
2024
Authors
Nima Norbu Sherpa, Riccardo De Giorgi, E. Ostinelli, A. Choudhury, Tenzin Dolma, Sangila Dorjee
Related Content
Claims (6)
Creatine supplementation reduces depressive symptoms in people diagnosed with depression.
Adding 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily to cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression in adults aged 18–45 with moderate to severe symptoms is feasible and acceptable in under-resourced settings, and does not increase adverse events or dropout rates.
Adults with moderate to severe depression who take 5 grams of creatine daily along with cognitive-behavioral therapy experience a 5.12-point greater reduction in depression symptoms on the PHQ-9 scale after 8 weeks than those who take a placebo with the same therapy.
In adults with moderate to severe depression undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy, taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for 8 weeks results in the same rate of side effects and treatment discontinuation as taking a placebo.
In adults with moderate to severe depression who are undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy, taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for 8 weeks does not change the rate at which people stop their treatment compared to taking a placebo.
In adults with moderate to severe depression, taking 5 grams of creatine monohydrate daily for 8 weeks along with cognitive-behavioral therapy leads to a 5.12-point drop in depression symptoms on the PHQ-9 scale, which is greater than the 3-point threshold considered clinically meaningful.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.