WEUKBRE5557: IMI PROTECT(Work Package 2): Antiepileptics & Suicide

The studies described in this protocol are all performed within the framework of PROTECT (Pharmacoepidemiological Research on Outcomes of Therapeutics by a European ConsorTium) Workpackage 2 and Workgroup 1. Primary aim of these studies is to develop, test and disseminate methodological standards for the design, conduct and analysis of Pharmacoepidemiological (PE) studies applicable to different safety issues and using different data sources. To achieve this, results from PE studies on five key adverse events (AEs) performed in different databases will be evaluated. Therefore, emphasis will be on the methodological aspects of the studies in this protocol and not on the clinical consequences of the association under investigation. In the present project, investigators use Columbia Classification Algorithm of suicide assessment (C-CASA) definitions as a basis to specify the operational definitions of the different aspects of suicidality. The focus of the main analyses is on attempted suicide including completed suicide. This is due to statistical power issues. However, investigators will apply two additional outcome definitions in sensitivity analyses: 1) completed suicide only and 2) completed suicide, suicide attempt, preparatory acts toward imminent suicidal behavior, suicidal ideation plus indeterminate or potentially suicidal events. Investigators will not include terms which clearly indicate an accidental event, or self-injurious behavior without a suicidal intent. These definitions are listed in the statistical analysis plan together with lists of terms from the dictionaries used in the different databases. The objectives of this study are to 1) Compare the study results which are based on two data sources (he UK General Practice Research Database (GPRD) and Danish registries) and different designs and evaluate the impact of design and population differences on the outcome of the study results (the UK database 'The Health Improvement Network' (THIN) may be in