Aim: To evaluate whether selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure influences the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients with depression.
Methods: This study included 693 patients with MI (cases) and 2772 controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR).
Results: SSRI exposure may be associated with a reduced MI risk (OR = 0.77, 95% CI 0.57, 1.03). However, reduced risk was only observed with longer term use (OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.53, 1.00) and not with shorter term use (OR = 1.15, 95% CI: 0.65, 2.05).
Conclusions: Only longer term use of SSRIs was associated with reduced MI risk, suggesting that other mechanisms, besides an acute anti-platelet effect, may reduce MI risk.
© 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.