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Antipsychotics and the risk of diabetes and death among adults with serious mental illnesses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2023

Jason Poulos
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Sharon-Lise T. Normand
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Katya Zelevinsky
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
John W. Newcomer
Affiliation:
Thriving Mind South Florida, Miami, FL, USA Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Denis Agniel
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Haley K. Abing
Affiliation:
Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Marcela Horvitz-Lennon*
Affiliation:
RAND Corporation, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Marcela Horvitz-Lennon; Email: mhorvitz@rand.org
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Abstract

Background

Individuals with schizophrenia exposed to second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) have an increased risk for diabetes, with aripiprazole purportedly a safer drug. Less is known about the drugs' mortality risk or whether serious mental illness (SMI) diagnosis or race/ethnicity modify these effects.

Methods

Authors created a retrospective cohort of non-elderly adults with SMI initiating monotherapy with an SGA (olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone, aripiprazole) or haloperidol during 2008–2013. Three-year diabetes incidence or all-cause death risk differences were estimated between each drug and aripiprazole, the comparator, as well as effects within SMI diagnosis and race/ethnicity. Sensitivity analyses evaluated potential confounding by indication.

Results

38 762 adults, 65% White and 55% with schizophrenia, initiated monotherapy, with haloperidol least (6%) and quetiapine most (26·5%) frequent. Three-year mortality was 5% and diabetes incidence 9.3%. Compared with aripiprazole, haloperidol and olanzapine reduced diabetes risk by 1.9 (95% CI 1.2–2.6) percentage points, or a 18.6 percentage point reduction relative to aripiprazole users' unadjusted risk (10.2%), with risperidone having a smaller advantage. Relative to aripiprazole users' unadjusted risk (3.4%), all antipsychotics increased mortality risk by 1.1–2.2 percentage points, representing 32.4–64.7 percentage point increases. Findings within diagnosis and race/ethnicity were generally consistent with overall findings. Only quetiapine's higher mortality risk held in sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions

Haloperidol's, olanzapine's, and risperidone's lower diabetes risks relative to aripiprazole were not robust in sensitivity analyses but quetiapine's higher mortality risk proved robust. Findings expand the evidence on antipsychotics' risks, suggesting a need for caution in the use of quetiapine among individuals with SMI.

Information

Type
Original Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © RAND Corporation and the Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Cohort characteristics

Figure 1

Table 2. Three-year outcomes among 38 762 publicly insured adults receiving antipsychotic drug monotherapy

Figure 2

Table 3. Average absolute outcome differences in percentage points (95% confidence intervals) for five antipsychotic drugs compared with aripiprazole (comparator drug)

Figure 3

Table 4. Average absolute outcome differences in percentage points (95% confidence intervals) for five antipsychotic drugs compared with aripiprazole (comparator drug) for patients aged less than 45 years and no pre-period antipsychotic drug exposure

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