ArticleDrugs & aging2023
Trends, Patterns and Associated User Characteristics of Antidepressant Prescriptions in Older Adults: A Nationwide Descriptive Cohort Study in Denmark.
Article in Drugs & aging, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Trends in age-sex-specific prevalence and incidence of antidepressant dispensation in the Nordic countries: a systematic review.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Antidepressant prescribing pattern in Croatia: a retrospective, longitudinal study from 2017 to 2022.Croatian medical journal · 2026Article
- International Trends in Antidepressant Consumption: a 10-year Comparative Analysis (2010-2020).The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveAntidepressant use in older adults (≥ 65 years) is understudied in large population-based samples, particularly in recent years and regarding user characteristics. We aimed to describe the trends, patterns, and associated user characteristics of all antidepressant prescriptions redeemed by older adults at community pharmacies in Denmark during 2015-2019.
methodsThis register-based study used a cross-sectional design to characterize antidepressant prescription trends and patterns, and a cohort design to describe user characteristics associated with antidepressant prescription initiation. We used descriptive statistics to characterize trends and patterns, and Poisson regression for analyzing user characteristics.
resultsDuring the years 2015-2019, 17.9% of 1.2 million older adults redeemed 4.84 million antidepressant prescriptions, where 48.5% were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, followed by noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (26.2%), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (12.7%), tricyclic antidepressants (11.2%), and others (1.4%). Amitriptyline and nortriptyline, considered potentially inappropriate medications, were among the 10 most frequently redeemed antidepressants. Only 60.5% of prescriptions had a treatment indication of depression. Prescription-proportion trends by drug classes and individual antidepressants remained consistent. A higher incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of initiating antidepressants was associated with female sex (IRR 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.34), older age (e.g., 81-85 years vs. 65-70 years: IRR 1.74, 95% CI 1.44-2.11), living in rural areas (North Denmark vs. Capital Region: IRR 1.31, 95% CI 1.09-1.58), and having somatic and psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., per one psychiatric diagnosis: IRR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05-1.15), while a lower ratio was associated with being non-Western (vs. Danish: IRR 0.50, 95% CI 0.28-0.89) and having hospital contacts for psychiatric treatment (per each contact: IRR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93-1.00).
conclusionSSRIs were the most commonly redeemed antidepressants, with consistent trends in Danish older adults. Besides clinical conditions, sociodemographics, e.g., sex, age, ethnicity, and place of residence, may influence antidepressant use.
Indexed as
Identifiers
36920735What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.