NEW YORK: The risk of suicide among older patients appears to be increased during the first month of therapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, but this increased risk is fairly low, researchers in Canada report.Dr David N. Juurlink, of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, and colleagues examined coroner’s data, along with data on prescriptions, physician billing claims and hospitalization, for more than 1.2 million subjects who were at least 66 years of age between 1992 and 2000.

A total of 1138 individuals who suicide were identified and these individuals were closely matched to 4,552 subjects who served as comparison group, according to the team’s report in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Compared with other antidepressants, SSRIs were associated with a nearly fivefold increased risk of completed suicide during the first month of therapy. In the first 30 days of treatment, 62 patients on an SSRI committed suicide compared with 17 suicides among patients who were prescribed another type of antidepressant drug.

This risk was still seen after factoring in the effects of a recent depression diagnosis or previous psychiatric care. Suicide of a violent nature was also more common among patients on SSRI therapy compared with patients receiving other antidepressants.

REUTERS

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