title: Preliminary study of patterns of medication use for depression treatment in China.
abstract: This systematic review investigated drug utilization for depression and assessed trends in prescriptions in China. Major Western and Chinese electronic databases were searched without language restriction for studies reporting defined daily doses. A total of 76 studies published between 2000 and 2010 reporting data on prescriptions for depression in China between 1996 and 2008 were included. All studies were published in Chinese. Most trials were conducted in urban areas in south and east China. Twenty-nine drugs were reported as antidepressants. On the basis of defined daily doses, melitracen/flupentixol combination, fluoxetine, and paroxetine were the most frequently prescribed compounds. According to published evidence, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have become the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant drugs in China.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry II, Ulm University, Guenzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kösters
mesh_terms: D000873:Anthracenes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002681:China; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000639:trends*; D005475:Flupenthixol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000873:Anthracenes; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005475:Flupenthixol; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; C000851:flupentixol, melitracen drug combination
keywords: China; antidepressant drug; prescription; review; trend