Lithium in drinking water and food, and risk of suicide

Lithium in drinking water and suicide mortality

“…8 However, this report has been criticised for being based on unreliable lithium measures, 9 and for omitting socioeconomic confounders such as poverty and economic issues. 10 In order to replicate the report of Ohgami et al 8 on the basis of data originating from a different country, and to address the criticisms mentioned above, we extended the design of the study by Ohgami and colleagues and used a large data source of lithium levels in drinking water. To challenge the hypothesis that lithium levels in drinking water are inversely associated with suicide mortality, we adjusted for regional socioeconomic conditions and the availability of mental health service providers.…”

Lithium in drinking water and suicide rates across the East of England

“…The study, however, has been criticised for not accounting for potential confounding factors, ecological fallacy, methodology and interpretation of the findings. [7][8][9][10][11] To further test this hypothesis, we conducted an ecological study in the East of England to examine whether there was an association between naturally occurring lithium levels in drinking water and mortality from suicide.…”

Smoothing using fractional polynomials: an alternative to polynomials and splines in applied research

“…The second example uses an ecological observational study investigating the relationship between the mean ground water lithium traces and suicide using county level data from Texas . Prior research has shown an inverse relationship between lithium levels and suicide rates, but methodological concerns were expressed about both the statistical methodology and the exclusion of socioeconomic measures that may influence suicide rates …”

“…28 Prior research has shown an inverse relationship between lithium levels and suicide rates, but methodological concerns were expressed about both the statistical methodology and the exclusion of socioeconomic measures that may influence suicide rates. 29,30 The primary objective of this study was to describe the association between lithium levels and county suicide rates over the period from 1999 to 2007, adjusting for county level demographic and socioeconomic features, and to consider more complex regression models that may better characterize this relationship. A FP Poisson regression was one of the considered regression models.…”