ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2026
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antidepressant use in eleven European regions: a comparative time series analysis 2018-2022.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- In reply to: Interpreting antidepressant prescribing trends in Croatia.Croatian medical journal · 2026Article
- Interpreting antidepressant prescribing trends in Croatia: a letter to the editor.Croatian medical journal · 2026Article
- Population-Based Trends in Antidepressant Dispensing Among Children and Adolescents in Manitoba, Canada.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Initiation of antidepressant medicines in Swedish patients diagnosed with COVID-19: a registry-based cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Psychotropic prescribing in UK primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: national interrupted time-series analysis.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- Antidepressant prescribing pattern in Croatia: a retrospective, longitudinal study from 2017 to 2022.Croatian medical journal · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
purposeThe COVID-19 pandemic had detrimental effects on the mental health of populations, with differing influences on different demographic groups. Varying national countermeasures to the pandemic may have further impacted these effects. This study aimed to explore the effects of the pandemic on dispensed volumes of antidepressants in outpatient settings in different regions of Europe and to assess potential age- and sex-related differences of its impact on incidence of antidepressant dispensing.
methodsWe used descriptive and interrupted time series analyses of pharmacy dispensing data on volumes. For six regions, we analysed volume and incident use stratified by age and sex.
resultsDuring the pandemic, the preexisting long-term trend in unstratified dispensed volumes significantly increased only in Slovenia and Germany and weakened in Scotland and Wales (estimated changes in slope + 0.16, + 0.10, - 0.23, and - 0.68 defined daily doses per thousand inhabitants per day, respectively, for each month). The stratified quarterly analysis revealed the greatest relative increase in females aged 0-17 (+ 64% in Sweden to + 167% in Croatia in the last quarter of 2022 compared with the last quarter of 2019). Both rate of change and difference between sexes were lower in higher age groups. Incidence increased most steeply in females aged 0-17, where the estimated pandemic-related increase explained 11% (Sweden) to 55% (Lombardy) of new patients receiving antidepressants.
conclusionOur findings indicate the need to develop targeted mental health supporting measures to increase resilience, especially in young people, and mitigate the impact of potential future public health crises.
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