Health

SSRI use and fracture risk

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 12, 2007

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Daily use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors by adults older than 50 was tied to a doubled risk of fragility fractures, said a report in the Jan. 22 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal followed 5,008 adults in a prospective cohort study for more than five years in determining their fracture risk. Daily use of SSRIs was reported by 137 participants with an average age of 65.1 years.

Daily SSRI use also was associated with increased odds of falls and lower bone mineral density at the hip as well as a trend toward lower bone mineral density at the spine. But fracture risk remained elevated despite adjustment for those two risk factors, the researchers concluded.

"In light of the high rate of SSRI use among the general population, and among elderly persons in particular, further studies that include controlled prospective trials are needed to confirm our findings," they wrote.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/02/12/hlbf0212.htm.

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