Antidepressant treatment duration and risk of sudden cardiac death: A nationwide cohort study - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #Antidepressants
- #Sudden Cardiac Death
- #Pharmacoepidemiology
- The study investigated the association between antidepressant treatment duration/recency and sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk using a nationwide Danish cohort of 4.3 million adults.
- Longer cumulative duration of antidepressant use was linked to higher SCD risk, with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.41 for 1-5 years and 1.74 for ≥6 years of use.
- A temporal gradient in risk was observed: current users had the highest SCD risk (HR 1.71), followed by recent users (HR 1.24), and remote users (HR 1.11).
- Increased SCD risk associated with antidepressant use was consistent across drug classes, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants.
- The findings suggest that prolonged antidepressant therapy identifies a population at elevated cardiovascular risk, warranting further investigation, though causality cannot be inferred.