Publication trends in newspapers and scientific journals for SSRIs and suicidality: a systematic longitudinal study

BackgroundIn the period 2003–2008, the regulatory authorities issued several warnings restricting the use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in paediatrics, in reaction to safety concerns regarding the risk of suicidality. In this study, the SSRIs and suicidality controversy serves...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open 2011-01, Vol.1 (2), p.e000290-e000290
Main Authors: Hernandez, J F, Mantel-Teeuwisse, A K, van Thiel, G J M W, Belitser, S V, Raaijmakers, J A M, Pieters, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antidepressants
Behavior
Health Services Research
Information sources
News media
Pharmaceutical industry
Product safety
Researchers
Serotonin
Studies
Suicides & suicide attempts
Systematic review
Trends
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Summary:BackgroundIn the period 2003–2008, the regulatory authorities issued several warnings restricting the use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in paediatrics, in reaction to safety concerns regarding the risk of suicidality. In this study, the SSRIs and suicidality controversy serves as a template to analyse the long-term publication trends regarding the benefit/risk profile of medications. The aim is to ascertain differences (in terms of numbers, categories and timing) between negative and positive newspaper and journal articles on SSRIs and suicidality and to ascertain correlations between changes in the reports and regulatory warnings.MethodsA systematic review of scientific articles (Embase) and the Netherlands (NL) and the UK newspapers (LexisNexis) was performed between 2000 and 2010. Categorisation was done by ‘effect’ (related treatment effect), ‘type of article’ and ‘age group’. The articles' positive-to-negative effect ratio was determined. Differences in distribution of effect categories were analysed across sources, type of article and age group using the Mann–Whitney (two subgroups) or Kruskal–Wallis test (three or more).FindingsIn total, 1141 articles were categorised: 352 scientific, 224 Dutch and 565 British newspaper articles. Scientific articles were predominantly on research and were positive, whereas newspaper articles were negative (ratios=3.50—scientific, 0.69—NL and 0.94—UK; p
ISSN:2044-6055
2044-6055
DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000290