Childhood trauma should not preclude patients with major depressive disorder from accessing first-line pharmacotherapy, despite previous findings to the contrary, international researchers say.

Their meta-analysis — the largest-ever on the topic — drew from 29 clinical trials involving 6830 adults treated for major depressive disorder across the globe, including Europe, North America and Australia.

More than half of the participants (62%) reported childhood trauma, which included emotional and physical neglect, emotional and physical abuse and sexual abuse.

Pharmacological treatments included SSRIs and SNRIs, while the study also looked at psychological interventions such as CBT and interpersonal psychotherapy.