ReviewJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2025
Fluoroquinolones and risk of nightmares: A literature review and disproportionality analysis using individual case safety reports from Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System database.
Review in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Fluoroquinolones and the risk of panic attacks: a systematic review and disproportionality analysis using individual case safety reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2026Pooled it
- An Updated 16-Year Pharmacovigilance Analysis of Neuropsychiatric Safety Profiles of Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, and Moxifloxacin Using FAERS Data.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Enhancing Antibiotic Effect by Photodynamic: The Case ofAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFluoroquinolones (FQs) have been linked to various neuropsychiatric effects, including nightmares, mostly through case reports. However, data on nightmares remain limited and underreported.
aimsTo review the literature on FQ-related nightmares and estimate the risk of nightmares associated with FQs compared to other antibiotics using data from the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.
methodsA literature review was conducted to identify studies on FQ-related nightmares. Active-comparator restricted disproportionality analyses were performed in FAERS (2004Q1-2023Q4) for ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin compared to azithromycin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. We calculated reporting odds ratios (RORs), proportional reporting ratios, adjusted ROR (accounting age, sex, weight, and specific indications), and information components (IC
resultsThe review identified seven studies, with the prevalence of nightmares ranging from 0.01% to 8% across three trials. Disproportionality analyses indicated that FQ-associated nightmare reports were 6- to 10-fold higher than those linked to azithromycin (ROR: 6.18, 95% CI: 4.14-9.23) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (ROR: 10.38, 95% CI: 4.92-21.89), largely reported by consumers. These findings were consistent across frequentist and Bayesian methods and adjusted analyses.
conclusionFQs may increase the risk of nightmares. Our findings provide valuable insights for future research on their safety profile. Further research is needed to validate these findings and guide safe FQ use.
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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.