Lithium May Increase Risk for Renal Decline Among Older Adults

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry associated lithium use among older adults with elevated risk for renal decline, reports Healio . The researchers employed healthcare databases from Ontario, Canada, to analyze data of older adults with a mean age of 71 years from 2007 to 2015. They propensity-score matched 3,113 lithium users 1:1 to 3,113 valproate users and further analyzed subjects with higher or lower serum lithium levels. A similar baseline of health indicators was observed over an average follow-up of 3.1 years between lithium and valproate users. The investigators perceived a link between lithium and increased risk for renal function loss compared with valproate, with 6.5 compared to 5.7 events per 100 person years for the former versus the latter. The risk of renal decline when baseline serum lithium concentrations were higher than 0.7 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) was 1.26 compared to valproate use, and this risk was 1.06 when baseline lithium concentrations were 0.7 mmol/L or fewer.