Focus on: antidepressant prescribing trends in the prescribing of antidepressants in primary care

Antidepressant medication is an intervention of proven value in treating
depression (NICE, 2009) and good-quality care should ensure that drugs are
prescribed appropriately to those who will benefit most. However, overuse
of antidepressants can have a negative impact on patient health and create
dependencies, representing an inefficient use of health care resources. Therefore, it is important that health services seek to minimise instances of over-, or under-, prescribing of these important drugs. Yet, there are reports of a rising use of antidepressants in primary care and the reasons behind this are not clear. One explanation may lie in the recent economic recession. There are strong links between socioeconomic disadvantage and deprivation, and poor mental health. Therefore, it is likely that the recent growth of unemployment, poverty and inequality caused by the economic recession will lead to an increase in mental health problems, and a subsequent demand for health services. In the first instance, such problems are most likely to be seen through management in primary care. In this analysis, we explore antidepressant prescribing patterns and investigate whether economic indicators are linked to general practitioner (GP)
prescribing. Using routinely available datasets, we looked at trends in antidepressant prescribing between 1998 and 2012, and the variation in levels of prescribing across England between 2010 and 2013. In order to explore variation in prescribing at practice level, we developed a statistical model to assess which factors are associated with the total number of antidepressants prescribed per registered patient at GP practice level.

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