ArticleBJPsych open2024
Involvement of propranolol in suicides: cross-sectional study using coroner-reported data.
Article in BJPsych open, 2024. 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.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of treatments for propranolol toxicity: a systematic review of current approaches and evidence.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Beta Blocker Intoxications in Belgium: A Data Analysis with Focus on Propranolol.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The problem of propranolol poisoning.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Article
- Review
- Propranolol in anxiety: poor evidence for efficacy and toxicity in overdose.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPropranolol is a beta-blocker medication indicated mostly for heart rhythm conditions and for physical symptoms of anxiety. Prescriptions for propranolol in the UK have increased since 2008. Recently, there have been concerns about the involvement of propranolol in intentional poisonings, but such deaths are not routinely reported. Therefore, use of coroner-reported and toxicology data enables unique investigation into the scale of involvement of propranolol in suicide.
aimsTo describe the extent to which propranolol is involved in suicides, including patterns over time and characteristics of people whose suicide involved propranolol compared with other suicides.
methodData were derived from the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM). All suicides and deaths of undetermined intent between 2010 and 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were extracted, and a subset was identified where propranolol was involved in death.
resultsThere were 4473 suicides of which 297 (6.6%) involved propranolol, with the proportion involving propranolol nearly quadrupling during the study period (3.4%
conclusionsA small number, but increasing proportion, of suicides reported to the NPSUM involve propranolol. Vigilance to the combined toxicity profile of medicines used alongside propranolol may be pertinent.
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