Use of antidepressants and risk of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction: A nationwide case-crossover study.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the association between antidepressant use and the risk of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

METHODS: A case-crossover study was conducted using a nationwide population-based sample from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 18,631 patients with incident AMI were included in this study. The effects of antidepressant use as well as that of various classes (including tricyclic or tetracyclic antidepressants; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), doses, and receptor-binding profiles of the antidepressants on AMI were assessed. Conditional logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounding factors were applied to determine the effects of antidepressant use on the risk of AMI during case and control time periods of 15, 30, and 60 days, respectively. The modifiable effects of age, gender, and comorbidity were evaluated by stratified analysis.

RESULTS: Antidepressant use was not associated with the risk of AMI (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-1.24). Likewise, neither the class, dose, nor the binding affinity of serotonin transporter or norepinephrine transporter was associated with AMI risks, and there was no modifying effect of age, gender, or comorbid medical condition on the association between antidepressant use and AMI.

CONCLUSIONS: Use of antidepressant drugs was not associated with the risk of AMI.