Key result
Long-term antidepressant use steadily increases, reaching ~69% of all users by 2020.
Why the study?
Antidepressant use has increased across Europe largely due to longer treatment durations, prompting the need to assess prevalence and factors associated with long-term use in Switzerland.
What is the prevalence of long-term antidepressant use in the Swiss population and what factors are associated with it?
Cohort (n=77,338)
What is the prevalence of long-term antidepressant use in the Swiss population and what factors are associated with it?
The proportion of long-term antidepressant users in Switzerland is steadily increasing, reaching 69.4% of users in 2020, which may indicate possible overprescribing.
Rising long-term antidepressant use warrants clinical review of ongoing need; leaves open questions on appropriateness and outcomes.
Purpose: Antidepressant use has increased in many European countries, mostly driven by longer treatment duration. The aim of this study was to provide prevalence rates of long-term users of antidepressants for the Swiss population over the last decade and to investigate associated factors for longer use. Methods: We examined the prevalence rates of individuals with at least one prescription for antidepressants using longitudinal health claims data. To compare different lengths of prescription duration, we defined short-term (<6 months), medium-term (6-12 months) and long-term users (>12 months). We applied a binary logistic regression model to investigate the effects of population characteristics and treatment patterns on long-term compared to short- and medium-term users. Results: In 2021, 9% of the Swiss population (n=770 698) received at least one antidepressant prescription. This one-year-prevalence remained stable since 2013. In 2020, the proportion of long-term users was 69.4%, with steady increase from 2014 to 2020. The numbers of medium- and short-term users have decreased during this period. Older age, being a woman, living in an urban area, living in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, living in a nursing home, being enrolled in a standard care plan, and receiving psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care were factors associated with long-term users. Conclusion: The proportion of long-term users in Switzerland is steadily increasing. Taking antidepressants longer than recommended may indicate possible overprescribing. Given the ongoing debate about the confounding effects of relapse and withdrawal, more research is needed to investigate antidepressants overprescribing, particularly for older people.
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Amrein et al. (2023) conducted a cohort in Antidepressant use (n=77,338). Long-term antidepressant use vs. Short- and medium-term antidepressant use was evaluated on Proportion of long-term antidepressant users (>12 months) in 2020. The proportion of long-term antidepressant users in Switzerland steadily increased from 2014 to 2020, reaching 69.4% of all users in 2020.
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