ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2024
Antidepressant use in relation to dementia risk, cognitive decline, and brain atrophy.
Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-Term Antidepressant Use and Dementia Risk: A Propensity Score-Matched Study of Swiss Older Adults, with an Anticholinergic-Specific Analysis.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2026Article
- Exploring the association between antidepressants, progression and mortality in Huntington's disease.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Antidepressant use and dementia, cognitive measures, and neuroimaging outcomes: A population-based cohort study.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Antidepressant use at the threshold: people prescribed antidepressants around the time of a dementia diagnosis.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- Effect of SSRIs on clinical progression in amnestic mild cognitive impairment stratified by Alzheimer's disease pathology.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Antidepressant use and cognitive decline in patients with dementia: a national cohort study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Exploring the Complex Relationship Between Antidepressants, Depression and Neurocognitive Disorders.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Antidepressant use in relation to dementia risk, cognitive decline, and brain atrophy.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- The Concomitant Use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Alzheimer's Disease: Balancing Benefits and Risks.Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders extraArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionWe aimed to assess the effect of antidepressant use on dementia risk, cognitive decline, and brain atrophy.
methodsIn this prospective cohort study, we included 5511 dementia-free participants (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] > 25) of the Rotterdam study (57.5% women, mean age 70.6 years). Antidepressant use was extracted from pharmacy records from 1991 until baseline (2002-2008). Incident dementia was monitored from baseline until 2018, with repeated cognitive assessment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) every 4 years.
resultsCompared to never use, any antidepressant use was not associated with dementia risk (hazard ratio [HR] 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92-1.41), or with accelerated cognitive decline or atrophy of white and gray matter. Compared to never use, dementia risk was somewhat higher with tricyclic antidepressants (HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.01-1.83) than with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.81-1.54), but without dose-response relationships, accelerated cognitive decline, or atrophy in either group. DISCUSSION: Antidepressant medication in adults without indication of cognitive impairment was not consistently associated with long-term adverse cognitive effects. HIGHLIGHTS: Antidepressant medications are frequently prescribed, especially among older adults. In this study, antidepressant use was not associated with long-term dementia risk. Antidepressant use was not associated with cognitive decline or brain atrophy. Our results support safe prescription in an older, cognitively healthy population.
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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.