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Overdose rates in lithium‐treated versus antidepressant‐treated outpatients
Author(s) -
Waddington D.,
McKenzie I. P.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1994.tb01555.x
Subject(s) - lithium (medication) , antidepressant , medicine , drug overdose , retrospective cohort study , antidepressant medication , poison control , anesthesia , emergency medicine , psychiatry , anxiety
Our clinical experience that lithium is an agent used infrequently for self‐poisoning was investigated. The rate at which such overdoses occurred was determined from hospital records. A retrospective casenotes study then compared overdose rates in patients taking lithium versus patients on antidepressant medication. A low rate of lithium overdoses was identified, and this appeared to be due to patients on lithium rarely taking overdoses rather than their choice of agent.