Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2018 Jun 30;15(7):1373.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph15071373.

The Use of Antidepressive Agents and Bone Mineral Density in Women: A Meta-Analysis

Julietta Ursula Schweiger  1 , Ulrich Schweiger  2 , Michael Hüppe  3 , Kai G Kahl  4 , Wiebke Greggersen  5 , Kamila Jauch-Chara  6 , Eva Fassbinder  7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The Use of Antidepressive Agents and Bone Mineral Density in Women: A Meta-Analysis

Julietta Ursula Schweiger et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Antidepressive agents are one of the fastest-growing classes of prescribed drugs. However, the effects of antidepressive agents on bone density are controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the state of research on the relationship between the use of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and bone mineral density (BMD) in women. The database searched was Pubmed. The meta-analysis included human studies in women fulfilling the following criteria: (i) an assessment of bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, the femoral neck or the total hip; (ii) a comparison of the BMD of depressed individuals using antidepressive agents (SSRIs or TCAs), and a control group that did not use antidepressive agents; (iii) measurement of BMD using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); and (iv) calculations of the mean BMD and standard deviation or standard error. Four studies were identified, which, in total, included 934 women using antidepressive agents and 5767 non-using individuals. The results showed that no significant negative composite weighted mean effect sizes were identified for the comparisons between SSRI users and non-users. Similarly, no significant negative composite weighted mean effect sizes were identified for the comparisons between TCA users and non-users, indicating similar BMD in SSRI or TCA users and non-users. The meta-analysis shows that the association between antidepressant medication and bone mineral density has not been extensively researched. Only four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The global result of the literature review and meta-analysis was that the use of antidepressive agents was not associated with lower or higher BMD. This result applies to both SSRIs and TCAs and to all measurement locations (lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip).

Keywords: absorptiometry; antidepressive agents; bone mineral density; depressive disorder; meta-analysis; osteoporosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
According to the PRISMA statement, the diagram plots the flow of information in the meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimates of all studies that compared bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine in women with and without treatment with antidepressive agents. The diamond at the bottom of the graph denotes the overall estimate of the association between the use of antidepressive agents and bone mineral density.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimates of all studies that compared bone density in the femoral neck in women with and without a treatment with antidepressive agents. The diamond at the bottom of the graph denotes the overall estimate of the association between the use of antidepressive agents and bone mineral density.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Estimates of all studies that compared bone mineral density in the hip in women with and without treatment with antidepressive agents. The diamond at the bottom of the graph denotes the overall estimate of the association between the use of antidepressive agents and bone mineral density.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aitken M., Kleinrock M., Lyle J., Nass D., Caskey L. Medicines Use and Spending Shifts: A Review of the Use of Medicines in the US in 2014. IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics; Parsippany, NJ, USA: 2015.
    1. Olfson M., Marcus S.C. National patterns in antidepressant medication treatment. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 2009;66:848–856. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.81. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Noordam R., Aarts N., Verhamme K.M., Sturkenboom M.C., Stricker B.H., Visser L.E. Prescription and indication trends of antidepressant drugs in the netherlands between 1996 and 2012: A dynamic population-based study. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2015;71:369–375. doi: 10.1007/s00228-014-1803-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lewer D., O’Reilly C., Mojtabai R., Evans-Lacko S. Antidepressant use in 27 european countries: Associations with sociodemographic, cultural and economic factors. Br. J. Psychiatry. 2015;207:221–226. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.156786. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Simon G.E., Stewart C., Beck A., Ahmedani B.K., Coleman K.J., Whitebird R.R., Lynch F., Owen-Smith A.A., Waitzfelder B.E., Soumerai S.B., et al. National prevalence of receipt of antidepressant prescriptions by persons without a psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatr. Serv. 2014;65:944–946. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201300371. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources