Suicide and Self-Harm Following Prescription of SSRIs and Other Antidepressants: Confounding by Indication

A restrospective cohort study, with nested case control, of 57,361 patients identified from a nonrandom sample of New Zealand general practitioners was conducted to identify the incidence & risk of suicide & self-harm within 120 days of receiving a prescription for a single antidepressant. 26 suicides & 330 episodes of self-harm were identified. Age, gender, & pre-existing depression/suicide ideation were important confounders in observational studies of the association between antidepressants & suicide or self-harm. (22 refs.)