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Antidepressant Users (antidepressant + user)
Selected AbstractsAntidepressant drug prescribing among elderly subjects: a population-based studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2005Mauro Percudani Abstract Background The patterns of antidepressant drug prescribing have rarely been studied in large and geographically defined populations of elderly subjects. In the present study we examined the prevalence and distribution of antidepressant prescribing in Lombardy, a northern Italy region with more than one and a half million elderly inhabitants. Methods We used the Regional Administrative Database of Lombardy. This database includes all prescriptions reimbursed by the National Health System in the population living in this region. All antidepressant prescriptions dispensed to subjects aged 65 years or above during 2001 were extracted and prevalence data calculated by dividing antidepressant users by the total number of male and female residents in each age group. Results During the 12 months surveyed 153,706 subjects were dispensed one or more prescriptions of antidepressants, yielding a prevalence of use of 9.49 subjects per 100 inhabitants (95% confidence interval 9.44, 9.53). Although the proportion of chronic users slightly decreased with age, more than 35% of those older that 85 years were moderate or chronic antidepressant users. General practitioners issued the majority of antidepressant prescriptions, and most antidepressant users were also dispensed agents for medical disorders. Conclusions The very high rates of antidepressant drug prescribing detected in late life suggest the need of characterising these subjects in terms of medical and psychiatric characteristics, needs and quality of life. It also suggests the need for pragmatic clinical trials, carried out in the general practice, with the aim of assessing whether antidepressants are effective in these conditions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Provider Characteristics Related to Antidepressant Use in Older PeopleJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2006Gerda G. Fillenbaum PhD OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the characteristics of the usual medical care providers of older antidepressant users changed between 1986 and 1997 with the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Five-county Piedmont area of North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Stratified random sample of African-American (n=2,261) and white (n=1,875) community residents aged 65 to 105. MEASUREMENTS: Sample members provided information on prescription medications, demographic and health status, and usual medical care provider (matched to North Carolina Health Professions Data Systems files to ascertain provider characteristics) in 1986/87, 1989/90, 1992/93, and 1996/97. Most (77.5%) named a provider (name unmatchable for 4.1%). Sample member characteristics were aggregated into probability (propensity) scores summarizing predisposing (demographic), enabling (medical care access), and need (health status) categories. Along with wave of study and whether a provider was named, these were entered as control variables in generalized estimating equation models that examined the association between provider race (white vs nonwhite), sex, age, location of practice, and primary versus specialist care and antidepressant use. RESULTS: The characteristics of the usual medical care providers remained stable over the decade, although prevalence of antidepressant use increased. Two provider characteristics,race and area of practice (but not the interaction between them),were significantly associated with patients' use of antidepressants. Patients of white physicians and of physicians with urban practices were more likely to use antidepressants. CONCLUSION: Although use of antidepressants has increased over time, there has been little change in the characteristics of users' usual medical care providers. [source] An algorithm to identify antidepressant users with a diagnosis of depression from prescription dataPHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 1 2009Helga Gardarsdottir PharmD Abstract Purpose Antidepressants are used for many indications besides depression. This makes investigating depression treatment outcomes in prescription databases problematic when the indication is unknown. The aim of our study is to develop an algorithm to identify antidepressant drug users from prescription data that suffer from depression. Methods Data for deriving the algorithm were obtained from the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice, carried out in 2001 by The Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), and for validation the Integrated Primary Care Information (IPCI) database was used. Both sets included adults receiving their first antidepressant drug in 2001 (n,=,1855 and 3321, respectively). The outcome was a registered diagnosis of depression. Covariates investigated for developing the algorithm were patient and prescribing characteristics, and co-medication. Results The predictive algorithm included age, SSRI prescribed on the index date, prescribed dose, general practitioner as prescriber and the number of antidepressant prescriptions prescribed plus medication for treating acid related disorders, laxatives, cardiac therapy or hypnotics/sedatives prescribed in the 6 months prior to index date. The probability that the algorithm correctly identified an antidepressant drug user as having a depression diagnosis was 79% with a sensitivity of 79.6% and a specificity of 66.9%. Conclusion In conclusion, we developed and validated an algorithm that can be used to compose cohorts of patients treated with antidepressants for depression from prescription databases. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||