Association Between Prescription of Antidepressants and Delirium in the Elderly : Analysis From the World Health Organization Global Database

Delirium is a frequent reason for hospitalisation of the elderly. Associations between the prescription of some medicines and the risk of delirium have already been demonstrated. Antidepressants are widely prescribed in the elderly because of the frequency of anxiety-depressive symptoms in this population, where there are high pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability. However, the association between antidepressants and the risk of delirium remains poorly understood. Based on the analysis from the World Health Organization global database, the main objective of this study is to investigate the association between the different classes of antidepressants and the occurrence of the " delirium " event reported in the database. A disproportionality analysis will be performed. It will aim to assess whether some classes of antidepressants, and within these classes some molecules, are associated with a greater risk of delirium.