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Oral contraceptive use and risk of suicidal behavior among young women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2020

Alexis C. Edwards Open the ORCID record for Alexis C. Edwards [Opens in a new window] ,
Sara Larsson Lönn ,
Casey Crump ,
Eve K. Mościcki ,
Jan Sundquist Open the ORCID record for Jan Sundquist [Opens in a new window] ,
Kenneth S. Kendler Open the ORCID record for Kenneth S. Kendler [Opens in a new window]  and
Kristina Sundquist Open the ORCID record for Kristina Sundquist [Opens in a new window]
Alexis C. Edwards*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
Sara Larsson Lönn
Affiliation:
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
Casey Crump
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Jan Sundquist
Affiliation:
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Kenneth S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
Kristina Sundquist
Affiliation:
Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Alexis C. Edwards, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Oral contraceptive use has been previously associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior in some, but not all, samples. The use of large, representative, longitudinally-assessed samples may clarify the nature of this potential association.

Methods

We used Swedish national registries to identify women born between 1991 and 1995 (N = 216 702) and determine whether they retrieved prescriptions for oral contraceptives. We used Cox proportional hazards models to test the association between contraceptive use and first observed suicidal event (suicide attempt or death) from age 15 until the end of follow-up in 2014 (maximum age 22.4). We adjusted for covariates, including mental illness and parental history of suicide.

Results

In a crude model, use of combination or progestin-only oral contraceptives was positively associated with suicidal behavior, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.73–2.78 after 1 month of use, and 1.25–1.82 after 1 year of use. Accounting for sociodemographic, parental, and psychiatric variables attenuated these associations, and risks declined with increasing duration of use: adjusted HRs ranged from 1.56 to 2.13 1 month beyond the initiation of use, and from 1.19 to 1.48 1 year after initiation of use. HRs were higher among women who ceased use during the observation period.

Conclusions

Young women using oral contraceptives may be at increased risk of suicidal behavior, but risk declines with increased duration of use. Analysis of former users suggests that women susceptible to depression/anxiety are more likely to cease hormonal contraceptive use. Additional studies are necessary to determine whether the observed association is attributable to a causal mechanism.

Keywords

Cohort studyoral contraceptionregistry datasuicidal behavior
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 9 , July 2022 , pp. 1710 - 1717
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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