Studies have shown that children and adolescents beginning to use
antidepressant agents may have increased risk of suicidal thoughts and
behaviors, but variations in risk among individual medications are
unknown. A new study, “Comparative Safety of Antidepressant Agents for Children and Adolescents Regarding Suicidal Acts,” published in the May
issue of Pediatrics (published online April 12), compared various
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressant
medications and found no significant differences among them in the risk
of suicide attempts or suicides. (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors were not
investigated because of the small number of exposed subjects.)
A total
of 20,906 children between the ages of 10 to 18 years of age with a
diagnosis of depression were observed over a 9-year period. During the
first year of use, study authors identified 266 attempted and 3
completed suicides, but no meaningful differences between SSRI
antidepressant agents. This analysis supports the decision of the Food
and Drug Administration to include ALL antidepressants in the black box
warning regarding increased suicide risk for children and adolescents
after initiation of antidepressant medication use.
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The American Academy of
Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians,
pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists
dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children,
adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.