(HealthDay)—Long-term antidepressant use increases the risk for type 2 diabetes onset in a time- and dose-dependent manner, according to a study published online Feb. 12 in Diabetes Care.

Hiroyuki Miidera, from the National Institute of Mental Health in Tokyo, and colleagues evaluated associations between the risk for new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus and the duration of antidepressant use and the antidepressant dose, as well as antidepressant use and clinical outcomes after diabetes onset. The analysis included 90,530 propensity-matched participants.

The researchers found that 5,225 patients (5.8 percent) developed diabetes. There was an association between antidepressant use and risk for diabetes onset in a time- and dose-dependent manner. For short-term low-dose antidepressant use, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.27, and for long-term high-dose use, the adjusted hazard ratio was 3.95. The investigatorsobserved lower HbA1c levels among patients who discontinued or reduced the dose of antidepressants.

“HbA1c level should be regularly monitored in patients taking antidepressants in order to inform the decision to reduce or discontinue antidepressant use, if possible, when impaired glucose tolerance is observed,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.