Citation

Sondergard L, Kvist K, Andersen PK, Kessing LV. Psychiatr. Danub. 2006; 18(Suppl 1): 81.

Affiliation

University Hospital of Copenhagen, Department of Psychiatry, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. (l.s@rh.dk)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Facultas Universitatis Studiorum Zagrabiensis - Danube Symposion of Psychiatry)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16963995

Abstract

Objective: Prior observational studies suggest that treatment with lithium may be associated with reduced risk of suicide in bipolar disorder. However, these studies are biased toward patients with the most severe disorders and the relation to sex and age has seldom been investigated. We aimed to investigate whether treatment with lithium reduces the risk of suicide in a nationwide study. Methods: An observational cohort study with linkage of registers of all prescribed lithium and recorded suicides in Denmark during a period form 1995 to 1999. We hereby included all patients treated with lithium in Denmark, i.e. within community psychiatry, private specialist practice settings and general practice. The sample consisted of 13,170 patients who purchased at least one prescription of lithium and 1.2 million subjects from the general population. All suicides were identified on the basis of death certificates filled in by doctors at the time of death. Results: Patients who purchased lithium had higher rate of suicide than the general population. Purchasing lithium at least twice was associated with a 0.44 (95% CI: 0.28-0.70) reduced rate of suicide, compared to the rate when purchasing lithium once, only. There was no interaction between sex and age, respectively, and continued lithium treatment on the suicide rate. Conclusions: In a nationwide study including all patients treated with lithium, it was found that continued lithium treatment was associated with reduced suicide risk, regardless of sex and age.

Language: en