Rate of suicide in patients taking montelukast

Abstract

Study Objective. To estimate the rate of suicide in patients taking montelukast. Design. Population-based cohort study. Data Source. United Kingdom General Practice Research Database. Patients. A total of 23,500 patients who had received at least one prescription for montelukast in the cumulative data from February 1998-March 2007. Measurements and Main Results. Rate of suicide was to be calculated as number of suicides divided by person-time at risk. Person-time of montelukast exposure was accrued for each patient as a cumulative duration of all prescriptions. The 23,500 patients had received 252,593 prescriptions for montelukast, representing 21,050 person-years at risk for suicide. We then sought to identify all cases that had a computer-recorded diagnosis of suicide; however, no cases of suicide were found in patients exposed to montelukast during our time frame. Conclusion. The risk of suicide attributable to montelukast, if present at all, is extremely low in users.