Taking antidepressants may reduce your risk of dying from COVID-19

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-11-16 03:00

International

People taking a type of antidepressant, known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) may have a lower risk of dying from COVID-19, according to a US study. The study used electronic health records of 80,000 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 including around 3400 who were prescribed an SSRI. They found the use of SSRIs—and specifically fluoxetine—was linked to a lower risk of dying compared with people who were not prescribed SSRIs.

Media release

From: JAMA

Mortality Risk of Patients With COVID-19 Prescribed SSRIs

Do the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Antidepressants Fluoxetine and Fluvoxamine Reduce Mortality Among Patients With COVID-19?

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

What The Study Did: Researchers analyzed electronic health records for about 83,000 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including 3,401 patients prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to investigate whether SSRIs are associated with a lower risk of death among patients with COVID-19.

Authors: Marina Sirota, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and David K. Stevenson, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, are the corresponding authors.

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conference: JAMA Network Open

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Organisation/s: University of California, USA, Stanford University, USA

Funder: This study was supported by the Christopher Hess Research Fund and in part by the University of California, San Francisco, Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research grant, grant T32GM007618 from the Medical Scientist Training Program, and grant R35GM138353 from the National Institutes of Health.

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