Prescription of Antidepressants and the Risk of Road Traffic Crash in the Elderly: a Case-crossover Study

Overview

Journal Br J Clin Pharmacol

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2013 Oct 24

PMID 24148104

Citations 10

Authors

Ludivine Orriols

Machelle Wilchesky

Emmanuel Lagarde

Samy Suissa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the impact of antidepressants on the risk of road traffic crash in the elderly.

Methods: Reports from the Universal Quebec Automobile Insurance Agency database were matched with data on antidepressant prescription from the Quebec Health Insurance Agency. The case-crossover analysis consisted in comparing exposure during a period immediately before the crash with exposure during earlier periods, for the same subject.

Results: One hundred and nine thousand four hundred and six drivers between 66 and 84 years of age involved in a traffic crash between 1988 and 2000 were included. Two thousand nine hundred and nineteen (2.7%) were exposed to an antidepressant on the day of the crash. Case-crossover analysis found an increased risk of crash in drivers with a prescription of antidepressants before their crash when compared with a prescription of antidepressants 4 to 8 months before the crash (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.08, 1.30 to 1.42. 95% CI 1.30, 1.55). With the most recent control periods, results were not significant.

Conclusion: A patient's mental state is probably more similar between two periods that are close to each other than up to 8 months before. Consequently, the risk of crash is likely to be linked to symptoms of depression.

Citing Articles

A novel weighting method to remove bias from within-subject exposure dependency in case-crossover studies.

Kubota K, Kelly T, Sato T, Pratt N, Roughead E, Yamaguchi T BMC Med Res Methodol. 2021; 21(1):214.

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Multinational comparison of new antidepressant use in older adults: a cohort study.

Tamblyn R, Bates D, Buckeridge D, Dixon W, Forster A, Girard N BMJ Open. 2019; 9(5):e027663.

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The association between antidepressant use and deaths from road traffic accidents: a case-crossover study.

Yang B, Kwon K, Kim Y, Choi N, Kim M, Jung S Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2018; 54(4):485-495.

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Coupland C, Hill T, Morriss R, Moore M, Arthur A, Hippisley-Cox J BMC Med. 2018; 16(1):36.

PMID: 29514662 PMC: 5842559. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-018-1022-x.

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