Antidepressant prescribing

Secular trends in antidepressant prescribing in the UK, 1975-1998.

BACKGROUND We have examined secular trends in age- and sex-specific prescribing of antidepressants to determine whether these mirror changes in other population measures of mental health. METHOD An analysis was carried out of age- and sex-specific rates of antidepressant prescribing by a representative sample or panel of UK general practitioners (GPs) in the period 1975-1998. RESULTS The nu...

Suicide Rates and Antidepressant Prescribing: A Casual or Causal Relationship?

I n an ecological study in this issue of PLoS Medicine , Milane and colleagues found a temporal association between prescription of specifi c serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and suicide rates in the United States [1]. Their study addresses a subject of great public health importance and clinical interest. The researchers asked the question: was the use of antidepressants ass...

Antidepressant Prescribing and Suicides in Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) from 1999 to 2008: An Ecological Study

Anti-depressant (AD) prescribing rose in several countries worldwide over the last 20 years. Some concerns have been raised over the fact that AD use, mainly Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) may increase the risk of suicide. AD consumption and suicide rates data in Emilia-Romagna region, Italy have been extracted from regional government databases on AD prescribing and suicide rat...

Explaining the rise in antidepressant prescribing: a descriptive study using the general practice research database

OBJECTIVE To explore the reasons behind the recent increase in antidepressant prescribing in the United Kingdom. Design Detailed retrospective analysis of data on general practitioner consultations and antidepressant prescribing. Data source Data were obtained from the general practice research database, which contains linked anonymised records of over 3 million patients registered in the UK. D...

PS74. Antidepressant prescribing patterns and adherence to treatment in one tertiary care university hospital