Decreased risk of suicides and attempts during long-term lithium treatment: a meta-analytic review.
OBJECTIVE
To update and extend comparisons of rates of suicides and suicide attempts among patients with major affective disorders with versus without long-term lithium treatment.


METHODS
Broad searching yielded 45 studies providing rates of suicidal acts during lithium treatment, including 34 also providing rates without lithium treatment. We scored study quality, tested between-study variance, and examined suicidal rates on versus off lithium by meta-analytic methods to determine risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).


RESULTS
In 31 studies suitable for meta-analysis, involving a total of 85,229 person-years of risk-exposure, the overall risk of suicides and attempts was five times less among lithium-treated subjects than among those not treated with lithium (RR = 4.91, 95% CI 3.82-6.31, p < 0.0001). Similar effects were found with other meta-analytic methods, as well as for completed versus attempted suicide, and for bipolar versus major mood disorder patients. Studies with higher quality ratings, including randomized, controlled trials, involved shorter exposures with somewhat lesser lithium superiority. Omitting one very large study or those involving lithium-discontinuation had little effect on the results. The incidence-ratio of attempts-to-suicides increased 2.5 times with lithium-treatment, indicating reduced lethality of suicidal acts. There was no indication of bias toward reporting positive findings, nor were outcomes significantly influenced by publication-year or study size.


CONCLUSIONS
Risks of completed and attempted suicide were consistently lower, by approximately 80%, during treatment of bipolar and other major affective disorder patients with lithium for an average of 18 months. These benefits were sustained in randomized as well as open clinical trials.
Baldessarini
Ross J
RJ
International Consortium for Research on Bipolar Disorders, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. rjb@mclean.org
Tondo
Leonardo
L
Davis
Paula
P
Pompili
Maurizio
M
Goodwin
Frederick K
FK
Hennen
John
J
D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016651:Lithium Carbonate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors
D016651:Lithium Carbonate