Regarding the authors’ previously published paper on the association of antidepressants and hospitalization due to hyponatremia: In preparation of a new manuscript based on the same data published, 2 errors have been discovered in the dataset. Instead of only including patients with a primary diagnosis of hyponatremia, some cases with hyponatremia as a secondary diagnosis had been included. When corrected, the number of cases admitted with a primary diagnosis of hyponatremia were 11,213 instead of 14,359 as reported in the manuscript, and thus the number of matched controls was 44,801 instead of 57,382. The second error is regarding the index date, which is in fact the discharge date, not the admission date as initially thought.
However, these errors have had a marginal impact on the results. If any, the corrected associations point further toward risk increases linked with antidepressants with serotonergic profiles and actually strengthened the previous conclusion. The corrected (red) and incorrect (black) odds ratios are presented in the table below to demonstrate the changes in estimates.
Tabled
1
| Newly Initiated Antidepressants CORRECTED Adj OR (95% CI) | Newly Initiated Antidepressants INCORRECT Adj OR (95% CI) | Ongoing Antidepressants CORRECTED Adj OR (95% CI) | Ongoing Antidepressants INCORRECT Adj OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citalopram | 6.5 (5.4-7.8) | 5.5 (4.71-6.44) | 0.68 (0.61-0.75) | 0.57 (0.52-0.63) |
| Escitalopram | 3.02 (1.79-5.11) | 2.51 (1.63-3.88) | 0.70 (0.53-0.93) | 0.63 (0.48-0.82) |
| Sertraline | 6.79 (5.02-9.26) | 4.96 (3.81-6.48) | 0.82 (0.69-0.97) | 0.75 (0.64-0.88) |
| Other SSRIs | 4.50 (2.24-9.23) | 4.79 (2.7-8.63) | 1.15 (0.89-1.47) | 1.08 (0.85-1.36) |
| Tricyclic antidepressants | 1.30 (0.85-1.96) | 1.59 (1.13-2.24) | 0.78 (0.64-0.96) | 0.77 (0.64-0.93) |
| Mirtazapine | 1.63 (1.24-2.13) | 2.54 (2.04-3.16) | 0.85 (0.74-0.98) | 0.76 (0.66-0.86) |
| Venlafaxine | 6.63 (3.84-11.7) | 5.29 (3.2-8.83) | 1.03 (0.78-1.34) | 0.95 (0.73-1.22) |
| Other antidepressants | 3.16 (2.03-4.92) | 3.21 (2.19-4.73) | 0.82 (0.63-1.07) | 0.78 (0.61-0.99) |
Adj OR = adjusted odds ratio; CI = confidence interval; SSRIs = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
The authors sincerely apologize for these mistakes. Although the results remain essentially similar, the described errors prompt transparency and do, in our opinion, need to be communicated to the medical community.
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: January 20, 2021
Footnotes
American Journal of Medicine, 131 (2018):1:56-63.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2017.07.025
PMID: 28803926
Identification
Copyright
Crown Copyright © 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Differences in Associations of Antidepressants and Hospitalization Due to HyponatremiaThe American Journal of MedicineVol. 131Issue 1
- PreviewSelective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants are important as a cause of hyponatremia. However, most studies have focused on the effect on sodium levels regardless of clinical symptoms, or have been too small to be able to discriminate between the effects of specific antidepressant drugs. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between different groups of antidepressants and the risk of hospitalization due to hyponatremia.
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