Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31951629›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Estimating associations between antidepressant use and incident mild cognitive impairment in older adults with depression.

Fang Han, Tyler Bonnett, Willa D Brenowitz, Merilee A Teylan, Lilah M Besser, Yen-Chi Chen, Gary Chan, Ke-Gang Cao, Ying Gao, Xiao-Hua Zhou

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. A Systematic Review of Antidepressants and Psychotherapy Commonly Used in the Treatment of Late Life Depression for Their Effects on Cognition.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Graphical methods for understanding changes in states: Understanding medication use pathways.International journal of methods in psychiatric research · 2022
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Fang HanDepartment of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-7950-7749
Tyler BonnettClinical Monitoring Research Program Directorate, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America.
Willa D BrenowitzDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Merilee A TeylanNational Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Lilah M BesserNational Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Yen-Chi ChenNational Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Gary ChanNational Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Ke-Gang CaoDepartment of Neurology, Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Ying GaoDepartment of Neurology, Dongzhimen Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Xiao-Hua ZhouDepartment of Biostatistics, Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Funding

NATIONAL ALZHEIMERS COORDINATING CENTER (NACC)U01AG016976 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI KUKULL, WALTER ANTHONY · 1999 to 2020
$72.8M
National Alzheimer's Coordinating CenterU24AG072122 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI STEPHENS, KARI A · 2021 to 2025
$45.8M
CCR NIH HHS HHSN261200800001CNCI NIH HHS HHSN261200800001ENIA NIH HHS U01 AG016976NIA NIH HHS U24 AG072122
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPrevious studies have provided equivocal evidence of antidepressant use on subsequent cognitive impairment; this could be due to inconsistent modeling approaches. Our goals are methodological and clinical. We evaluate the impact of statistical modeling approaches on the associations between antidepressant use and risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in older adults with depression.

methods716 participants were enrolled. Our primary analysis employed a time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model. We also implemented two fixed-covariate proportional hazards models-one based on having ever used antidepressants during follow-up, and the other restricted to baseline use only.

resultsTreating antidepressant use as a time-varying covariate, we found no significant association with incident MCI (HR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.70, 1.20). In contrast, when antidepressant use was treated as a fixed covariate, we observed a significant association between having ever used antidepressants and lower risk of MCI (HR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.56). However, in the baseline-use only model, the association was non-significant (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.60, 1.17). DISCUSSION: Our results were dependent upon statistical models and suggest that antidepressant use should be modeled as a time-varying covariate. Using a robust time-dependent analysis, antidepressant use was not significantly associated with incident MCI among cognitively normal persons with depression.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAntidepressive AgentsCognitionCognitive DysfunctionCohort StudiesDepressionFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleModels, StatisticalProportional Hazards ModelsRisk FactorsAntidepressive Agents

Identifiers

PMID31951629
PMCPMC6968868

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.