TY - JOUR PY - 2023// TI - Antidepressant drugs use and epilepsy risk: a nationwide nested case-control study JO - Epilepsy and behavior A1 - Chu, Che-Sheng A1 - Lee, Fang-Lin A1 - Bai, Ya-Mei A1 - Su, Tung-Ping A1 - Tsai, Shih-Jen A1 - Chen, Tzeng-Ji A1 - Hsu, Ju-Wei A1 - Chen, Mu-Hong A1 - Liang, Chih-Sung SP - e109102 EP - e109102 VL - 140 IS - N2 - BACKGROUND: To investigate the association between exposure to antidepressants (ADs) and the risk of epilepsy among patients exposed to ADs.

METHOD: We conducted a case-control study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database between 1998 and 2013. A total of 863 patients with epilepsy and 3,452 controls were included. The dose of ADs was categorized according to the cumulative defined daily dose (cDDD). The risk of epilepsy was assessed using conditional logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: Compared with cDDD < 90, ADs exposure with cDDD > 365 (odds ratio [OR]: 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.12-1.68) was associated with an increased risk of epilepsy, but not for those with cDDD 90-365 (OR: 1.07,95% CI: 0.87-1.30) after adjustment for several comorbidities and indications of ADs use. Other identified risk factors include cerebrovascular disease, traumatic brain injury, and central nervous system infection. Subgroup analysis of individual ADs showed that escitalopram (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.12-3.31), venlafaxine (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.13-2.31), mirtazapine (OR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.00-2.43), paroxetine (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.08-1.94), and fluoxetine (OR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01-1.56) had a significantly higher risk of epilepsy. Sertraline, fluvoxamine, citalopram, duloxetine, milnacipran, and bupropion did not show any proconvulsant effects.

CONCLUSIONS: The study found an increased risk of epilepsy among patients who were exposed to any ADs, particularly longer-term users. Given the nature of observational studies with residual bias, interpretation should be cautious.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1525-5050 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109102 ID - ref1 ER -