Black Box Warning Impacts SSRI Dosing in Youths

Black box warnings placed on antidepressants in October of 2004 pertaining to children and in May 2007 for young adults ages 18 to 24 due to the increased risk of suicidal thinking or behavior seemed to influence dosing among prescribers, researchers found, with lower doses prescribed after the FDA warnings appeared.

The findings were published in Psychiatric Services in Advance.

Of the 51,948 children studied who initiated an SSRI between 2000 and 2009, prescribers started 15% on a low dose before the 2004 black box warning compared with 31% after the warning, according to the findings. There was a smaller change among young adults; (7% vs 5%).

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