In this pharmacovigilance case-noncase study, significant RORs of suicidality and psychological adverse events were associated with finasteride use in patients younger than 45 years who used finasteride for alopecia. The sensitivity analyses suggest that these disproportional signals of adverse events may be due to stimulated reporting and/or younger patients being more vulnerable to finasteride’s adverse effects… In the context of increased scrutiny of post-finasteride syndrome, our exploratory findings highlight the need to further investigate the adverse events of finasteride use among young patients treated with the drug for alopecia, the cohort driving the disproportionality signal. Clinicians should pay greater attention to the psychological adverse effects of finasteride when prescribing them, especially in the younger population using the drug for hair loss.
Nguyen, DD, Marchese, M, Cone, EB, Paciotti, M, Trinh, QD, et al. JAMA Dermatol. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2020.3385 Published online November 11, 2020. [JAMA Dermatology]