title: Antidepressant use.
abstract: The recent 2009-2010 National Prescribing Service (NPS) Evaluation Report(1) used Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescribing data to examine antidepressant prescribing. The report stated that general practitioner antidepressant prescribing in 2007-2009 was lower than expected due to NPS interventions. This article tests this statement using 12 years of nationally representative BEACH data, which includes data on antidepressants prescribed by GPs - not just those subsidised through the PBS.
authors.affiliation: Australian GP Statistics & Classification Centre, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Britt
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Charles
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058006:General Practice; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents