Prevalence of antidepressant use among older people: population-based observations.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of antidepressant use with respect to age, gender, and time during a 5-year period from 1993 to 1997.


METHODS
A retrospective, population-based study in which data regarding a cross-sectional series of annual antidepressant use were obtained from administrative claims and census databases for more than 1.4 million older persons during calendar years 1993 through 1997.


METHODS
All residents of Ontario aged 65 or older.


METHODS
Changes in the prevalence of antidepressant users as a function of age group, gender, and time.


RESULTS
A general, positive, linear trend in the prevalence of antidepressant users with increasing age group was consistently detected regardless of gender and year assessed (P < .001 for both genders and all years). The age-adjusted relative risk of women being dispensed an antidepressant relative to men was significantly higher during each year but seemed to decrease slightly over time: 1.74 (95% CI, 1.72-1.76) in 1993 and 1.65 (95% CI, 1.63-1.67) in 1997. The multiple linear regression model revealed significant relationships between the prevalence of antidepressant users and increasing age group, female gender, and increasing year of assessment (P < .001 for each variable). The prevalence was observed to range from a low of 5.6% in 65 to 69-year-old men in 1993 to a high of 17.2% among 85 to 89-year-old women in 1997.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings reveal that the prevalence of antidepressant users is dynamic and is significantly and independently associated with age, gender, and time of assessment.
Mamdani
M
M
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Herrmann
N
N
Austin
P
P
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019992:Databases as Topic; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors