Table 7.
Absolute risks of arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, and stroke or transient ischaemic attack over 1 year by antidepressant class and for individual drugs.
| Treatment | Absolute risk per 10,000 over 1 year (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrhythmia* | Myocardial infarction† | Stroke/TIA‡ | |
| No treatment | 14 (11 to 17) | 10 (8 to 12) | 13 (11 to 16) |
| Antidepressant class | |||
| TCAs | 16 (11 to 23) | 11 (7 to 17) | 13 (9 to 19) |
| SSRIs | 12 (9 to 16) | 6 (4 to 8) | 11 (8 to 14) |
| Other antidepressants | 19 (12 to 30) | 8 (4 to 16) | 15 (9 to 25) |
| Combined antidepressants | 48 (17 to 133) | 17 (4 to 66) | 9 (1 to 64) |
| Antidepressant drug | |||
| TCAs: | |||
| Amitriptyline | 16 (10 to 27) | 8 (4 to 16) | 13 (8 to 22) |
| Dosulepin | 10 (5 to 21) | 11 (5 to 22) | 15 (8 to 26) |
| Lofepramine | 30 (15 to 60) | 31 (15 to 62) | 15 (6 to 40) |
| Trazodone | 24 (7 to 78) | 7 (1 to 52) | 7 (1 to 48) |
| SSRIs: | |||
| Citalopram | 11 (8 to 15) | 6 (4 to 9) | 10 (7 to 14) |
| Escitalopram | 14 (7 to 30) | 7 (2 to 18) | 8 (3 to 20) |
| Fluoxetine | 11 (8 to 16) | 4 (3 to 7) | 14 (10 to 19) |
| Paroxetine | 15 (9 to 28) | 4 (1 to 12) | 8 (4 to 18) |
| Sertraline | 17 (10 to 29) | 12 (6 to 22) | 8 (4 to 18) |
| Others: | |||
| Mirtazapine | 17 (8 to 35) | 9 (4 to 22) | 24 (13 to 44) |
| Venlafaxine | 23 (12 to 43) | 9 (3 to 24) | 7 (2 to 20) |
| All other antidepressants | 13 (4 to 38) | 5 (1 to 33) | 8 (2 to 34) |
SSRI=selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; TCA=tricyclic and related antidepressant; TIA=transient ischaemic attack.
*Absolute risks are adjusted for confounders listed in table 2.
†Absolute risks are adjusted for confounders listed in table 5.
‡Absolute risks are adjusted for confounders listed in table 6.