Are the findings statistically significant?
Of the 2,600 women involved in the study, 198 of them used SSRIs during the 4.5-year period. The difference in the rate of bone loss between the two groups was statistically significant. However, there is some question over whether that difference in the rate of bone loss translates into an increased risk of fracture in the long run. The companion study2 that looked at men >65 years of age was slightly different. It used cross-sectional analyses to compare the average bone density in men using SSRIs to the average bone density in men not using SSRIs. That study only looked at the average bone density at a particular point in time because follow-up bone density data was not yet available. However, the study found that bone density at the hip and spine in men who used SSRIs was lower than that in men who did not use SSRIs even when factors such as age, physical activity, health status, and smoking status were controlled.
