ArticleBMC geriatrics2024
Association between antidepressant use and delirium in older adults: an analysis of the World Health Organization's global pharmacovigilance database.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Discovery of novel Kir4.1 inhibitors based on serdemetan with potential therapy for glioblastoma-depression comorbidity.Pharmaceutical science advances · 2026Article
- Early Diagnosis of Delirium in Geriatric Patients in Emergency Departments: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Article
- Venlafaxine and Delirium: Understanding the Association.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- What's behind delirium: is there a specific role for medications?European geriatric medicine · 2025Review
- Neurological adverse events associated with antidepressants: a comprehensive 22-year analysis of the FDA adverse event reporting system.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Neural network analysis of the contribution of psychotropic prescription sequences to the risk of non-psychiatric adverse events in bipolar and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPsychoactive drugs frequently cause delirium adverse events in older adults. However, few data on the relationship between antidepressants and delirium are available. Here, we investigated the association between antidepressant prescription and pharmacovigilance reports of delirium in older adults.
methodsUsing the World Health Organization's VigiBase® global pharmacovigilance database from 1967 to 2022, we performed a disproportionality analysis in order to probe the putative associations between each antidepressant class (non-selective monoamine reuptake inhibitors (NSMRIs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), alpha-2-adrenergic receptor antagonists, and other antidepressants) and reports of delirium in people aged 65 or over. We calculated the reporting odds ratios (r-OR) and their 95% confidence interval ([95%CI]) with logistic regression models before and after adjustment for confounding factors. Secondary analyses were performed for each drug and within each class by age group (65-74, and 75 and over). We also studied the reports of concomitant delirium and hyponatremia.
resultsOur main analysis included 87,524 cases of delirium. After adjustment for confounders, a significant association was found between delirium and all antidepressant classes other than SNRIs. Intraclass disparities were found for the association between the most frequently prescribed antidepressants and reports of delirium. An elevated risk of reports of concomitant delirium and hyponatremia was found for SSRIs (4.46 [4.01-4.96]), SNRIs (1.25 [1.07-1.46]), MAOIs (1.72 [1.41-2.09]), and the "other antidepressants" class (1.47 [1.30-1.65]).
conclusionsThere was a significant association between reports of delirium and antidepressant classes (other than SNRIs). However, this association varied from one drug to another within a given antidepressant class. Moreover, this association could not always be explained by antidepressant-induced hyponatremia.
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