Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Among Youth Who Initiate SSRI Treatment Found to Be Small

Children and adolescents who initiate treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may have a small increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, particularly if they are publicly insured, according to astudy published Wednesday inJAMA Psychiatry.“The magnitude of association was more modest than previously reported, and the absolute risk was small,” wrote Jenny Sun, Ph.D., and Sonia Hernández-Díaz, M.D., Dr.P.H., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and colleagues. “This potential risk, which is much lower in magnitude t han the other known risk factors for [type 2 diabetes], should be weighed against the known benefits and risks of SSRI treatment to help inform treatment decision-making in the pediatric population.”Researchers used U.S. claims data on more than 1.5 million patients from two databases. The Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) database included information from 2000 to 2014 of patients enrolled in Medicaid and the Children ’s Health Insurance Program. The IBM MarketScan database consisted of information from 2003 to 2015 of privately insured patients. Patients with evidence of antidepressant use, diabetes-related conditions, pregnancy, hospice care, or serious medical conditions were excluded.Researchers identified patients aged 10 to 19 with diagnoses commonly treated with SSRIs, such as depression, generalized or social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. They compared patients who initiat...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: JAMA Psychiatry private insurance public insurance selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor SSRIs type 2 diabetes Source Type: research