Aim: To evaluate comparative safety of paroxetine and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for the risk of hip fractures.
Patients & methods: A propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study was conducted using 2007-2010 Minimum Data Set linked Medicare data. Robust Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the risk of hip fractures in depressed elderly nursing home residents.
Results: Cox analysis did not find any significant difference in the risk of hip fractures for the paroxetine users (hazard ratio: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.91-1.32) when compared with other SSRIs. Results from the sensitivity analysis supported the main findings.
Conclusion: There was no differential risk of hip fractures between paroxetine and other SSRIs. Future studies are needed to evaluate other anticholinergic effects of paroxetine.
Keywords: Medicare; SSRIs; comparative effectiveness; comparative risk; depression; elderly; hip fracture; nursing home residents; paroxetine; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.