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. 2016 May 31;353:i2550. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i2550

Table 2.

Risk of cardiovascular adverse events before and after treatment with methylphenidate

Risk period Arrhythmias Hypertension Myocardial infarction Ischemic stroke Heart failure
No of patients RR (95% CI)* No of patients RR (95% CI)* No of patients RR (95% CI)* No of patients RR (95% CI)* No of patients RR (95% CI)*
Primary analysis
Unexposed 630 1 304 1 42 1 57 1 40 1
Exposed 234 1.61 (1.48 to 1.74) 92 1.07 (0.94 to 1.22) 10 1.33 (0.90 to 1.98) 10 0.70 (0.49 to 1.01) 4 0.54 (0.30 to 0.96)
Time since initiation of methylphenidate (days)
1-3 24 2.01 (1.74 to 2.31) 6 1.01 (0.77 to 1.31) 0 NA 1 1.16 (0.61 to 2.22) 0 NA
4-7 26 1.61 (1.40 to 1.84) 11 1.29 (1.04 to 1.59) 0 NA 0 NA 0 NA
8-14 35 1.33 (1.17 to 1.50) 8 0.56 (0.43 to 0.71) 3 2.50 (1.49 to 4.20) 3 1.48 (0.98 to 2.24) 1 0.82 (0.38 to 1.75)
15-28 45 1.29 (1.16 to 1.44) 19 1.03 (0.88 to 1.22) 2 1.95 (1.17 to 3.23) 0 NA 1 0.94 (0.44 to 2.00)
29-56 51 1.54 (1.38 to 1.71) 18 0.90 (0.75 to 1.08) 3 2.57 (1.65 to 4.02) 4 1.00 (0.68 to 1.47) 0 NA
>56 53 1.03 (0.91 to 1.15) 30 1.14 (0.97 to 1.35) 2 0.67 (0.33 to 1.37) 2 0.38 (0.22 to 0.65) 2 0.17 (0.07 to 0.43)

NA=not applicable.

*Rate ratio adjusted for age, comorbidity, and co-medication in time varying method.