Decreased risk of suicides and attempts during long‐term lithium treatment: a meta‐analytic review

作者：Ross J. Baldessarini, Leonardo Tondo, Paula B. Davis, Maurizio Pompili, Frederick K. Goodwin, John A. Hennen · 发表于：Bipolar Disorders · 年份：2006 · DOI：10.1111/j.1399-5618.2006.00344.x · 被引用次数：754 · 研究领域：Bipolar Disorder and Treatment、Suicide and Self-Harm Studies、Personality Disorders and Psychopathology

OBJECTIVES: To update and extend comparisons of rates of suicides and suicide attempts among patients with major affective disorders with versus without long-term lithium treatment. METHODS: Broad searching yielded 45 studies providing rates of suicidal acts during lithium treatment, including 34 also providing rates without lithium treatment. We scored study quality, tested between-study variance, and examined suicidal rates on versus off lithium by meta-analytic methods to determine risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: In 31 studies suitable for meta-analysis, involving a total of 85,229 person-years of risk-exposure, the overall risk of suicides and attempts was five times less among lithium-treated subjects than among those not treated with lithium (RR = 4.91, 95% CI 3.82-6.31, p < 0.0001). Similar effects were found with other meta-analytic methods, as well as for completed versus attempted suicide, and for bipolar versus major mood disorder patients. Studies with higher quality ratings, including randomized, controlled trials, involved shorter exposures with somewhat lesser lithium superiority. Omitting one very large study or those involving lithium-discontinuation had little effect on the results. The incidence-ratio of attempts-to-suicides increased 2.5 times with lithium-treatment, indicating reduced lethality of suicidal acts. There was no indication of bias toward reporting positive findings, nor were outcomes significantly influenced by p...