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International Journal of Bipolar Disorders

Table 3 Studies of lithium in drinking water versus suicide rate

From: Prevention of suicidal behavior with lithium treatment in patients with recurrent mood disorders

Measure

Outcome

Reported studies (1972–2022)

25

Countries (%)

 Europe

52.0

 Japan

24.0

 USA

24.0

 Mean [Li +] µg/L [95% CI]

15.8 [7.05–24.6]

Relation to suicide rate (95% CI]

 Inverse correlation

32.0 [14.9–53.5]

 Partial association*

44.0 [24.4–65.1]

 No association

24.0 [9.36–45.1]

  1. [*] Partial association includes reduced suicide risk selectively among men (9 studies) or women (2 studies), only at relatively low altitudes (2 studies), or only one period of time (1 study). Data are from recent reviews by Brown et al. (2018), Barjasteh-Askari et al. (2020), Memon et al. (2020), Araya et al. (2022), and Fadaei (2023), with references.
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