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Pharmacological and Somatic Treatment Effects on Suicide in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Samuel T Wilkinson1, Daniel Trujillo Diaz1, Zachary W Rupp1
1Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (Wilkinson, Ramirez, Flores, Rhee, Bloch); Interventional Psychiatric Service, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (Wilkinson, Bloch); Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (Diaz, Kidambi, Ramirez, Avila-Quintero, Bloch); Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Hazard, Kentucky, USA (Rupp); Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA (Olfson).
Background:
Suicide is a public health crisis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of psychopharmacologic and somatic therapies on suicide risk.
Methods:
A systematic search of MEDLINE for studies evaluating the effects of pharmacologic (excluding antidepressants) or somatic interventions on suicide risk was conducted. Studies were included if they used a comparison group, reported on suicide death, assessed a psychopharmacological or somatic intervention, and included adults. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Fifty-seven studies were included from 2940 reviewed citations.
Results:
In bipolar disorder, lithium was associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide compared to active controls (odds ratio [OR] = .58, p = .005; k = 12) and compared to placebo/no lithium (OR = .46, p = .009; k = 9). In mixed diagnostic samples, lithium was associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide compared to placebo/no lithium (OR = .27, p < .001; k = 12), but not compared to active controls (OR = .89, p = .468; k = 7). In psychotic disorders, clozapine was associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide (OR = .46, p = .007; k = 7). Associations between suicide death and electroconvulsive therapy (OR = .77, p = .053; k = 11), non-clozapine antipsychotics in bipolar disorder (OR = .73, p = .090; k = 6) and antipsychotics in psychotic disorders (OR = .39, p = .069; k = 6) were not significant. There was no consistent relationship between antiepileptic mood stabilizers and suicide. There were insufficient studies to meta-analyze associations of suicide risk with vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy, or transcranial direct current stimulation.
Conclusion:
Lithium and clozapine have consistent data supporting protective effects against suicide in certain clinical contexts.Reprinted from Depress Anxiety 2022; 39:100-112, with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2022.
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