ArticleBMC primary care2026
Supporting depression care: antidepressant prescribing patterns among adults in Alberta, Canada.
Article in BMC primary care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDepression is a psychiatric disorder associated with emotional, physical and cognitive symptoms that impact an individual’s functioning. Antidepressants play a significant role in treatment because of their demonstrated efficacy. In the Canadian context, there is a paucity of studies that outline long-term trends of antidepressant prescription patterns for patients with depression. Examining prescribing patterns will help us understand current practice in relation to guidelines, and identify areas for enhancing depression care. This study was aimed at understanding whether we had a problem in our jurisdiction with inappropriate anti-depressant prescribing.
methodsThis descriptive quantitative study analyzed healthcare administrative data to examine antidepressant prescribing patterns in Alberta. The study population comprised adults aged 18 to 65 who received their first depression diagnosis between 2012 and 2022. Key variables were patient demographics; antidepressants prescribed with the cost of the lowest dose; and prescribing physician specialty. To integrate a health equity lens, we merged socio-economic data from Canadian postal code conversion files and the 2021 census with patient data. Our primary focus was identifying the initial pharmacotherapy following a new depression diagnosis. Analysis involved statistical summaries, and trend plots of antidepressants by year, stratified by the other variables.
resultsWe identified 208,988 Albertans who received a first depression diagnosis and an antidepressant prescription between 2012 and 2022. Escitalopram was the most commonly prescribed antidepressant, especially by family physicians. Other frequently prescribed medications included Lorazepam, Citalopram, Sertraline, Bupropion, and Trazodone. Our findings indicate that the antidepressants chosen as initial pharmacotherapy largely aligned with the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Guidelines. An interesting trend was the overall decline in Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonist (BZRA) co-prescribing after 2016, with Lorazepam showing a significant reduction in its once-prominent use.
conclusionsThe prescribing patterns did not show inappropriate antidepressant prescribing, rather, the prescribing patterns aligned with recommendations from the CANMAT guidelines. The observed reduction in BZRA use suggests the positive impact of regulatory efforts aimed at curbing inappropriate benzodiazepine prescribing. These findings offer valuable insights into antidepressant prescription characteristics, encompassing demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic trends, as well as patterns in prescribing practices across physician categories.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.