Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41309471›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Hormonal contraception and the risk of suicidal behaviour: a Swedish nationwide register-based study.

Jurate Aleknaviciute, Donghao Lu, Vide Gotby, Emma M Frans, Ralf Kuja-Halkola, Hedvig Engberg, Henning Tiemeier, Paul Lichtenstein, Fang Fang, Steven A Kushner and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Jurate Aleknaviciute *Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.
Donghao Lu *Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-8661
Vide Gotby *Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Emma M FransDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ralf Kuja-HalkolaDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Hedvig EngbergDepartment of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Henning TiemeierDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4395-1397
Paul LichtensteinDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Fang FangUnit of Integrative Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3310-6456
Steven A KushnerDepartment of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA sk2602@cumc.columbia.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9777-3338
Zheng ChangDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo determine whether hormonal contraceptives are associated with subsequent risks of suicidal behaviour and depression among women of reproductive age.

designNationwide register-based study.

settingSwedish national population using health and death registers. Nationwide registries provided individual-level information about the use of hormonal contraception, suicidal behaviour, depression and potential confounders.

participantsAll women in Sweden from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2013. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Suicidal behaviour events or registered deaths due to suicide were identified through the National Patient Register and Cause of Death Register, respectively. Clinical diagnoses of depression were obtained from the patient register. Cox regression models were used to estimate HRs with 95% CIs of suicidal behaviour and depression in women using hormonal contraceptives.

resultsWe followed more than two million women for a median of 6.8 years (12.4 million person-years in total). No increased risk was observed among women using oral contraceptives or non-oral combined oestrogen/progestin formulations. Non-oral progestin-only contraceptives were associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviour using both population-based (HR=1.17, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.21) and within-individual (HR=1.16, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.21) analyses. Age-stratified analyses revealed that during late adolescence (age 15-18), use of oral contraceptives or non-oral combined formulations was associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviour (range of HRs: 1.09-1.35), an effect that was not observed in adulthood. In contrast, non-oral progestin-only contraceptives were associated with an increased risk of suicidal behaviour during both late adolescence and adulthood.

conclusionsWe found no overall increased risk of suicidal behaviour among women using oral contraceptives or non-oral combined formulations. However, the observed increased risk associated with hormonal contraceptive use during adolescence, as well as with non-oral progestin-only contraception-particularly gonane-containing formulations-across the entire reproductive window warrants attention and further investigation.

Indexed as

Contraceptives, Oral, HormonalDepressionHormonal ContraceptionSuicidal IdeationSuicideSuicide, AttemptedAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMiddle AgedProportional Hazards ModelsRegistriesRisk FactorsSwedenYoung AdultContraceptives, Oral, HormonalAdolescentMENTAL HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTHSuicide & self-harm

Identifiers

PMID41309471
PMCPMC12666169

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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.