Twenty-Three Years of Declining Lithium Use: Analysis of a Pharmacoepidemiological Dataset from German-Speaking Countries.

Introduction: Pharmacoepidemiological data suggest that lithium prescriptions for bipolar disorder are gradually decreasing, with less attention having been paid to other indications.

Methods: We examined lithium prescriptions between 1994 and 2017 in data provided by the Drug Safety in Psychiatry Program AMSP, including psychiatric hospitals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We compared lithium use for different diagnoses before and after 2001 and in three periods (T1: 1994-2001, T2: 2002-2009, and T3: 2010-2017).

Controversies regarding lithium-associated weight gain: case-control study of real-world drug safety data.

Background: The impact of long-term lithium treatment on weight gain has been a controversial topic with conflicting evidence. We aim to assess reporting of weight gain associated with lithium and other mood stabilizers compared to lamotrigine which is considered free of metabolic adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Methods: We conducted a case/non-case pharmacovigilance study using data from the AMSP project (German: "Arzneimittelsicherheit in der Psychiatrie"; i.