Continued antidepressant treatment and suicide in patients with depressive disorder.
Antidepressant use in Denmark, as in many developed countries, has substantially increased during recent years, coinciding with a decreasing suicide rate. In a nationwide observational cohort study with linkage of registers of all prescribed antidepressants and recorded suicides in Denmark from 1995 to 2000, we investigated the relation between continued treatment with antidepressants and suicide in a population of all patients discharged from hospital psychiatry with a diagnosis of depressive disorder. Patients discharged from hospital psychiatry with a diagnosis of depressive disorder had a highly increased rate of suicide. Those who continued treatment with antidepressants had a decreased rate of suicide compared with those who purchased antidepressants once (rate ratio: 0.31, 95% confidence interval: 0.26-0.36). Further, the rate of suicide decreased consistently with the number of prescriptions. On individualized data from a cohort of patients with a known history of depressive disorder, continued antidepressant treatment was associated with reduced risk of suicide.
Søndergård
Lars
L
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. l.s@rh.dk
Lopez
Ana Garcia
AG
Andersen
Per Kragh
PK
Kessing
Lars Vedel
LV
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
D000928:Antidepressive Agents