Investigation of Suicidality and Psychological Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Finasteride
Analysis (n=3282) of VigiBase, the WHO’s global database of individual case safety reports, found disproportional signal of suicidality (OR 1.63; 95% CI, 1.47-1.81), and psychological adverse events (4.33; 4.17-4.49) linked to finasteride use for alopecia in patients < 45 years.
Source:
JAMA Dermatology
SPS commentary:
An editorial highlights that definitive causal inferences cannot be drawn from this kind of pharmacovigilance study, and the signals for suicidality and psychological adverse events identified for finasteride should not be mistaken for proof that there is a causal association between the two, due to the inherent biases described. These findings should be considered as exploratory and should stimulate further large-scale prospective pharmacoepidemiologic studies designed specifically to evaluate these potential adverse events in young patients using finasteride for treatment of androgenetic alopecia.