Citation

Tondo L, Hennen J, Baldessarini RJ. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 2001; 104(3): 163-172.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1034/j.1600-0447.2001.00464.x

PMID

11531653

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare suicide rates with vs. without long-term lithium treatment in major affective disorders.
METHOD: Broad searching yielded 22 studies providing suicide rates during lithium maintenance; 13 also provide rates without such treatment. Study quality was scored, between-study variance tested, and suicide rates on vs. off lithium examined by meta-analyses using random-effects regression methods to model risk ratios.
RESULTS: Among 5647 patients (33 473 patient-years of risk) in 22 studies, suicide was 82% less frequent during lithium-treatment (0.159 vs. 0.875 deaths/100 patient-years). The computed risk-ratio in studies with rates on/off lithium was 8.85 (95% CI, 4.12-19.1; P<0.0001). Higher rates off-lithium were not accounted for by treatment-discontinuation.
CONCLUSION: Suicide risk was consistently lower during long-term treatment of major affective illnesses with lithium in all studies in the meta-analysis, including the few involving treatment-randomization.

Language: en

Keywords

Adult; Bipolar Disorder; Female; Humans; Lithium; Male; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Retrospective Studies; Suicide Prevention; Time Factors