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Lithium treatment and risk of dementia
Kessing LV, Søndergård L, Forman JL, Andersen PK.. Archives of general psychiatry, 2008-11-01
Topic: Drug trials: efficacy and safety
Context It has been suggested that lithium may have neuroprotective abilities, but it is not clear whether lithium reduces the risk of dementia. Objective To investigate whether continued treatment with lithium reduces the risk of dementia in a nationwide study. Design An observational cohort study with linkage of registers of all patients prescribed lithium and diagnosed as having dementia in Denmark from January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2005. Setting We identified all patients treated with lithium in Denmark within community psychiatry, private specialist, and general practices and a random sample of 30% of the general population. Subjects A total of 16,238 persons who purchased lithium at least once and 1,487,177 persons from the general population who did not purchase lithium. Main Outcome Measure Diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer disease during inpatient or outpatient hospital care. Results Persons who purchased lithium at least once had an increased rate of dementia compared with persons not exposed to lithium (relative risk, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-1.76). For persons who continued to take lithium, the rate of dementia decreased to the same level as the rate for the general population. The rate of dementia decreased early after the consumption of lithium tablets corresponding to 1 prescription (typically 100 tablets) and stayed at a low level, although with a slight increase according to the number of subsequent prescriptions. The association between the number of prescriptions for lithium and dementia was unique and different from the association between the number of prescriptions for anticonvulsants and dementia. All findings were replicated in subanalyses with Alzheimer disease as the outcome. Conclusions Continued lithium treatment was associated with reduction of the rate of dementia to the same level as that for the general population. Methodological reasons for this finding cannot be excluded, owing to the nonrandomized nature of data.
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APA 7th
Kessing, L. V., Søndergård, L., Forman, J. L., & Andersen, P. K. (2008). Lithium treatment and risk of dementia. Archives of general psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.11.1331
Vancouver
Kessing LV, Søndergård L, Forman JL, Andersen PK. Lithium treatment and risk of dementia. Archives of general psychiatry. 2008. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.65.11.1331. PMID: 18981345.
BibTeX
@article{kessing2008-18981345,
author = {Kessing, L. V. and Søndergård, L. and Forman, J. L. and Andersen, P. K.},
title = {{Lithium treatment and risk of dementia}},
journal = {Archives of general psychiatry},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1001/archpsyc.65.11.1331},
pmid = {18981345},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.11.1331}
}
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Key findings
- Context It has been suggested that lithium may have neuroprotective abilities, but it is not clear whether lithium reduces the risk of dementia.
- Results Persons who purchased lithium at least once had an increased rate of dementia compared with persons not exposed to lithium (relative risk, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-1.76).
- Conclusions Continued lithium treatment was associated with reduction of the rate of dementia to the same level as that for the general population.
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Study details
- Study designcohort study
- Participants16,238
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 64/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 37 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 64 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of general psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2008 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 16,238 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 18981345) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 37 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 37 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 64 out of 100. |
| Total | 64 / 100 | — |
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