SynthesisPsychiatry research2022
Zolpidem use and risk of suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Psychiatry research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Managing Sleep in Bipolar Disorder: An Overview of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions.Bipolar disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review of the use of prescription and non-prescription psychotropic drugs and their relation with mental health in university population.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Memory retention following acoustic stimulation in slow-wave sleep: a meta-analytic review of replicability and measurement quality.Frontiers in sleep · 2023Pooled it
- Development of Sleep medications MYTH-understanding (SMYTH) and Sleep Medications Overexpectation of REsponses (SMORE) among the general population.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Efficacy and Safety Profile of Suvorexant for the Treatment of Insomnia.Current drug safety · 2026Review
- The effect and safety of sleep interventions on suicidal thoughts and behavior - A systematic review and meta-analyses.Sleep medicine: X · 2025Review
- The Association of Zolpidem and Suicidality in Psychiatric Outpatients With Insomnia.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Sarcopenia adversely impacts clinical outcomes in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2024Article
- GABAergic compounds for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.International review of neurobiology · 2024Review
- Prescription of Silexan Is Associated with Less Frequent General Practitioner Repeat Consultations Due to Disturbed Sleep Compared to Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists: A Retrospective Database Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionZolpidem is one of the most commonly prescribed nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drugs for insomnia. Published epidemiological studies linked zolpidem with the risk of suicide. However, to date, no meta-analysis investigated this association. Hence, we systematically reviewed and meta-analysed the current evidence from real-world studies reporting the risk of suicide with the use of zolpidem.
methodsMedline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and PsycINFO databases were searched from inception till June 2021 for real-world evidence studies reporting the risk of suicide with the use of zolpidem. The quality assessment of included studies was assessed using the New-Castle Ottawa Scale (NOS). Random-effect meta-analysis was performed using a generic inverse variance method.
resultsThis meta-analysis was based on four studies with 344,753 participants, of which 42,279 were zolpidem users. The methodological quality of all the included studies was of high quality. A significantly increased risk of suicide or suicide attempt was found in zolpidem users compared to non-users, with a pooled relative risk of 1.88 (95% CI: 1.54 - 2.30). Furthermore, an increased risk of suicidal death was observed in zolpidem users compared to non-users, with a pooled relative risk of 1.82 (95% CI: 1.43 - 2.30). Dose-response analysis also revealed a significantly increased risk of suicide in patients receiving ≥ 180cDDD (cumulative defined daily doses) of zolpidem (124 times), followed by 90-179cDDD (113 times) and <90cDDD (93 times) of zolpidem compared to non-users.
conclusionIn conclusion, zolpidem use was associated with an increased risk of suicide or suicide attempt and suicidal death. Therefore, careful prescribing practices must be followed by considering the risk-benefit profile.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.