Antidepressant prescribing is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, falls and fractures in older people, according to analyses of primary care data by UK researchers.

Two analyses by the same team of researchers from the University of Nottingham of the QResearch database – a network of 602 practices in England – found antidepressants increased the stroke rate by up to half, the rate of falls by more than three quarters, and the fracture rate by 87% compared with no antidepressant use.

Figures from the NHS Information Centre show antidepressants are the 10th most commonly prescribed class of drugs in primary care, with 39 million prescriptions issued in England in 2009. Although depression is common in older people, clinical trials for antidepressants often under-represent the elderly population so little is known about the risks of adverse events in older patients and the relative safety of individual drugs in this class.

Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, a GP and director of the QResearch programme, said: “Stroke risk significantly increased for SSRIs and the class of other antidepressants in older people. All classes of antidepressant drug are associated with an increased rate of falls and fractures in older people. These risks need to be weighed up against the potential benefits of these drugs” she said.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk