title: Patterns of serotonergic antidepressant usage in prodromal Huntington disease.
abstract: Antidepressant usage in prodromal Huntington Disease (HD) remains uncharacterized, despite its relevance in designing experiments, studying outcomes of HD, and evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. We searched baseline medication logs of 787 prodromal HD and 215 healthy comparison (HC) participants for antidepressant use. Descriptive and mixed-effects logistic regression modeling characterized usage across participants. At baseline, approximately one in five prodromal HD participants took antidepressants. Of those, the vast majority took serotonergic antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)). Significantly more prodromal HD participants used serotonergic antidepressants than their HC counterparts. Because of the prevalence of these medications, further analyses focused on this group alone. Mixed-effects logistic regression modeling revealed significant relationships of both closer proximity to diagnosis and female sex with greater likelihood to be prescribed a serotonergic antidepressant. More prodromal HD participants took antidepressants in general and specifically the subclass of serotonergic antidepressants than their at-risk counterparts, particularly when they were closer to predicted time of conversion to manifest HD. These propensities must be considered in studies of prodromal HD participants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Jane S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Paulsen
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Langbehn
authors.forename: Chiachi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Leigh J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Beglinger
authors.forename: Megan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Epping
authors.forename: Jess G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fiedorowicz
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Duff
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruggle
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Moser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors