In a new study, researchers found that long-term antidepressant use increases the risk for type 2 diabetes onset in a time- and dose-dependent manner.
The research was conducted by a team at the National Institute of Mental Health in Japan.
The team evaluated associations between the risk for new-onset type 2 diabetes and the duration of antidepressant use and the antidepressant dose, as well as antidepressant use and clinical outcomes after diabetes onset.
The analysis included 90,530 participants.
The researchers found that 5,225 patients (5.8%) developed diabetes. There was an association between antidepressant use and risk for diabetes onset in a time- and dose-dependent manner.
For short-term low-dose antidepressant use, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.27, and for long-term high-dose use, the adjusted hazard ratio was 3.95.
The team observed lower HbA1c levels among patients who discontinued or reduced the dose of antidepressants.
They suggest that the HbA1c level should be regularly monitored in patients taking antidepressants in order to inform the decision to reduce or discontinue antidepressant use, if possible when impaired glucose tolerance is observed.
One author of the study is Hiroyuki Miidera from the National Institute of Mental Health in Tokyo.
The study is published in Diabetes Care.
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