ArticleBMJ open2019
What proportion of initially prescribed antidepressants is still being prescribed chronically after 5 years in general practice? A longitudinal cohort analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- The relationship between renin-angiotensin system-modulating medication and depression: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Prescribing behavior of antidepressants for depressive disorders: A systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Structured Online Support to Inform and Assist Antidepressant Deprescribing in Primary Care (WiserAD Tool): Protocol for a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Factors associated with drug-drug interactions involving citalopram in the UK Biobank.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- The role of empathy in antidepressant withdrawal.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Article
- Potential deprescribing indications for antidepressants between 2012 and 2019: repeated cross-sectional analysis in two Scottish health boards.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence, trends, and individual patterns of long-term antidepressant medication use in the adult Swiss general population.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2023Article
- Prepandemic psychotropic drug status in Portugal: a nationwide pharmacoepidemiological profile.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Self-reported reasons for reducing or stopping antidepressant medications in primary care: thematic analysis of thePrimary health care research & development · 2023Article
- The burden of disease of fatal and non-fatal burn injuries for the full spectrum of care in the Netherlands.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Outcomes of hyperbolic tapering of antidepressants.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2023Article
- General Practice Patients' Experiences and Perceptions of the WiserAD Structured Web-Based Support Tool for Antidepressant Deprescribing: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Case Study With Realist Evaluation.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Familial risk of postpartum depression.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2022Article
- Antidepressant prescribing patterns in Australia.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- Exploration of GP perspectives on deprescribing antidepressants: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Use of sequence analysis for classifying individual antidepressant trajectories to monitor population mental health.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
- Protracted withdrawal syndrome after stopping antidepressants: a descriptive quantitative analysis of consumer narratives from a large internet forum.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Article
- Barriers to discontinuing antidepressants in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders: a review of the literature and clinical recommendations.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Review
- How effective are antidepressants for depression over the long term? A critical review of relapse prevention trials and the issue of withdrawal confounding.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesAntidepressant prescribing almost doubled in the Netherlands between 1996 and 2012, which could be accounted for by longer continuation after the first prescription. This might be problematic given a growing concern of large-scale antidepressant dependence. We aimed to assess the extent and determinants of chronic antidepressant prescribing among patient aged 18 years and older. We hypothesise a relatively large prevalence of chronic (>2 years) prescription.
designA longitudinal observational study based on routinely registered prescription data from general practice.
setting189 general practices in the Netherlands.
participants326 025 patients with valid prescription data for all 5 years of the study. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measure: the number of patients (N) receiving at least four antidepressant prescriptions in 2011, as well as during each of the four subsequent years. Secondary outcome measure: the above, but specified for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and for tricyclic antidepressants.
resultsAntidepressants were prescribed to almost 7% of our 326 025 participants each year. They were prescribed for depression (38%), anxiety (17%), other psychological disorders (20%) and non-psychological indications (25%). Antidepressants were prescribed in all 5 years to the 42% of the population who had at least four prescriptions dispensed in 2011. Chronic prescribing was higher among women than men, for those aged 45-64 years than for those aged >65 years and for those treated for depression or anxiety than for non-psychological indications (eg, neuropathic pain). Chronic prescribing also varied markedly among general practices.
conclusionChronic antidepressant use is common for depression and for anxiety and non-psychological diagnoses. Once antidepressants have been prescribed, general practitioners and other prescribers should be aware of the risks associated with long-term use and should provide annual monitoring of the continued need for therapy.
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