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Antidepressants prescribed for conditions other than depression
EDITOR,--Susan S Jick and colleagues' study on the use of antidepressants, based on data from the VAMP database, and rates of suicide may result in more confusion than elucidation.1 It is not clear whether the initial hypothesis was that observed suicide rates were evidence of failure to control depression, with consequent suicide, or that the agents were themselves a causative factor. The distinction is important since one case deals with inefficacy and the other with an adverse reaction. No data are provided on the suicide rate in the British population, in all the patients on the database, or in a comparative group of patients. Risk factors are compared between patients who have successfully committed suicide and a group who have unsuccessfully attempted suicide, even though they may have tried on many occasions.
The analyses of relative risk leave unaddressed a major confounding factor--namely, the numerous non-depressive conditions for which these
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- Antidepressants and suicide
- Susan S Jick, Alan D Dean, and Hershel Jick
BMJ 1995 310: 215-218.[Abstract] [Full Text]
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