Antipsychotic drug use and the risk of developing pneumonia

In the past decade, it has become clear that the use of antipsychotic drugs is associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events (e.g., stroke, cardiac arythmias and death). Trifir et al. studied the association of antipsychotic drug use with the development of pneumonia in a large cohort of elderly antipsychotic drug users. They found that current use of both atypical (odds ratio: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.48-4.61) and typical (odds ratio: 1.76; CI: 1.22-2.53) antipsychotic was associated with an increased risk for pneumonia when compared with past use. However, if only fatal pneumonia or pneumonia requiring hospitalization were taken as outcomes, only the use of atypical antipsychotics was found to be associated. The pathophysiological pathways leading to this increased risk have not yet been elucidated.