title: Prevalence of antidepressant use and contacts with psychiatrists and psychologists in pregnant and postpartum women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to study prevalence of antidepressant drug use from 12 months prior childbirth to 12 months postpartum and to compare the prevalences with those in a group of women of similar age who did not give birth. We additionally studied prevalences of contacts with private practicing psychiatrists and psychologists during a similar time period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study population comprised of pregnant women, and their controls were drawn from a 25% sample of the entire Danish population. Information on redeemed prescriptions for antidepressants and referrals to psychiatrists and psychologists was extracted. The outcome measure was period prevalence calculated in 3-month intervals from 12 months before childbirth to 12 months postpartum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 2-year observation period around childbirth, 2733 (3.17%) women had one or more prescriptions for an antidepressant and 935 (1.18%) and 1399 (1.76%) were referred to consultations with a psychiatrist or psychologist, respectively. Women giving birth had a markedly lower use of antidepressants compared to controls, with the largest observed difference during third trimester of pregnancy (0.6% vs. 2.20%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the prevalence of redeemed prescriptions for antidepressants decreased during pregnancy and increased postpartum. Similar patterns were observed for contacts with private practicing psychiatrists and psychologists.
authors: National Centre for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Taasingegade, Denmark. tmo@ncrr.dk
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Munk-Olsen
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Gasse
authors: T M
authors: TM
authors: Laursen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011570:Psychiatry; D011584:Psychology
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents