title: The wisdom of crowds (vox populi) and antidepressant use.
abstract: Under certain conditions, groups of people may (collectively) make better judgments than experts. Galton connected this phenomenon to the phrase vox populi in a 1907 paper. Arguably, an example of the phenomenon may be found in recent stabilization of the frequency of antidepressant use, following decades of increases. There is no evidence that a change in physi-cian behaviour has caused this stabilization. The stable frequency more likely reflects decisions made by thousands of individual people based on their personal experiences. This may provide a statement from the vox populi on an optimal frequency of antidepressant use in contemporary populations under current conditions, a topic that has eluded the consensus of experts.
authors: Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada.
authors: Scott B
authors: SB
authors: Patten
keywords: Antidepressant medications; major depression; medication use; monitoring; pharmacoepidemiology; population health.