Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic medication used to treat psychotic conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Common side effects of aripiprazole include dizziness and drowsiness, but in some rare cases, its consumption may also lead to adverse psychiatric events, like psychiatric hospitalization, suicide, or self-harm. This study aims to evaluate the association of aripiprazole with the risk of adverse psychiatric events.
This is a population-based cohort study that included a total of 1,643 participants using aripiprazole, who were matched with 1,643 patients using another psychotic medication. The participants were followed up for 1 year after cohort entry until psychiatric treatment failure for any cause other than suicide. The primary outcome of the study was serious events of psychiatric treatment failure estimated by the Cox proportional hazards regression model.
During 2,692 years of follow-up, 391 severe psychiatric treatment failures occurred, with the crude incidence rate of 14.52. However, the first-time use of aripiprazole was not associated with an increased rate of psychiatric treatment failure (HR 0.96) when compared to the use of other antipsychotic drugs.
The research concluded that the use of aripiprazole was not associated with psychiatric hospitalization, suicide, or self-harm when compared with other antipsychotic medications.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2722562?resultClick=1
