ArticleBJPsych open2022
Lithium in the prevention of suicide in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.
Article in BJPsych open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04446468 (Prevention of Suicide in Veterans Through Brief Intervention and Contact), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers.
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.
Prevention of Suicide in Veterans Through Brief Intervention and Contact (VA-BIC)
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatments for Individuals with Suicidal Thoughts: Use, Indications, and Helpfulness.Journal of affective disorders reports · 2026Article
- Lithium for the prevention of suicide in US veterans: a target trial emulation.BMJ mental health · 2026Article
- Prospective, comparative, pilot study of maintenance treatment in comorbid bipolar disorders with post-traumatic stress disorder.International clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- History of Suicide Prevention with Lithium Treatment.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Effect of psilocybin therapy on suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths in people with psychiatric diagnoses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Efficacy and Safety of Lithium for Suicide and Suicide-Related Behaviors in Youth: A Review of the Literature.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Development of a Clinical Guideline for Suicide Prevention in Psychiatric Patients Based on the ADAPTE Methodology.Psychiatry investigation · 2024Article
- Prevention of suicidal behavior with lithium treatment in patients with recurrent mood disorders.International journal of bipolar disorders · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Controversy exists regarding the efficacy of lithium for suicide prevention. Except for a recent trial that enrolled over 500 patients, available trials of lithium for suicide prevention have involved small samples. It is challenging to measure suicide in a single randomised controlled trial (RCT). Adding a single large study to existing meta-analyses may provide insights into lithium's anti-suicidal effects. We performed a meta-analysis of RCTs comparing lithium with a control condition for suicide prevention. MEDLINE and other databases were searched up to 30 November 2021. Efficacy was assessed by calculating the summary Peto odds ratio (OR) and incidence rate ratio (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals. Among seven RCTs, the odds of suicide were lower among patients receiving lithium versus control (OR = 0.30, 95% CI 0.09-1.02; IRR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.05-1.05), although the findings were still not statistically significant. The role of lithium in suicide prevention remains uncertain.
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.