Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T17:28:01.492Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Predictors of antidepressant use in the English population: analysis of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2018

S. Boyle Open the ORCID record for S. Boyle [Opens in a new window] ,
J. Murphy ,
M. Rosato ,
D. Boduszek  and
M. Shevlin Open the ORCID record for M. Shevlin [Opens in a new window]
S. Boyle*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Psychology Research Institute, Ulster University, Londonderry, UK
J. Murphy
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Psychology Research Institute, Ulster University, Londonderry, UK
M. Rosato
Affiliation:
Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Ulster University, Londonderry, UK
D. Boduszek
Affiliation:
School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK
M. Shevlin
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Psychology Research Institute, Ulster University, Londonderry, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: S. Boyle, School of Psychology and Psychology Research Institute, Ulster University, Magee Campus, Northland Road, Londonderry BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland, UK.(Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives

The rate of antidepressant use in the United Kingdom has outpaced diagnostic increases in the prevalence of depression. Research has suggested that personal and socioeconomic risk factors may be contributing to antidepressant use. To date, few studies have addressed these possible contributions. Thus, this study aimed to assess the relative strength of personal, socioeconomic and trauma-related risk factors in predicting antidepressant use.

Methods

Data were derived from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (n=7403), a nationally representative household sample of adults residing in England in 2007. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was developed to assess the associations between personal, socioeconomic and trauma-related risk factors and current antidepressant use.

Results

The strongest predictor of current antidepressant use was meeting the criteria for an ICD-10 depressive episode [odds ratio (OR)=9.04]. Other significant predictors of antidepressant use in this analysis included English as first language (OR=3.45), female gender (OR=1.98), unemployment (OR=1.82) and childhood sexual abuse (OR=1.53).

Conclusions

Several personal, socioeconomic and trauma-related factors significantly contributed to antidepressant use in the multivariate model specified. These findings aid our understanding of the broader context of antidepressant use in the United Kingdom.

Keywords

Antidepressantsdepressionepidemiologyregression analysisUnited Kingdom
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 15 - 23
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Anda, RF, Brown, DW, Felitti, VJ, Bremner, JD, Dube, SR, Giles, WH (2007). Adverse childhood experiences and prescribed psychotropic medications in adults. American Journal of Preventative Medicine 32, 389–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Angermeyer, MC, van der Auwera, S, Carta, MG, Schomerus, G (2017). Public attitudes towards psychiatry and psychiatric treatment at the beginning of the 21st century: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of population surveys. World Psychiatry 16, 50–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baxter, AJ, Scott, KM, Ferrari, AJ, Norman, RE, Vos, T, Whiteford, HA (2014). Challenging the myth of an “epidemic” of common mental disorders: trends in the global prevalence of anxiety and depression between 1990 and 2010. Depression and Anxiety 31, 506–516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benson, T, O’Neill, S, Murphy, S, Ferry, F, Bunting, B (2015). Prevalence and predictors of psychotropic medication use: results from the Northern Ireland Study of Health and Stress. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 24, 542–552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boehlen, F, Herzog, W, Quinzler, R, Haefeli, WE, Maatouk, I, Niehoff, D, Saum, KU, Brenner, H, Wild, B (2015). Loneliness in the elderly is associated with the use of psychotropic drugs. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 30, 957–964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brugha, T, Bebbington, P, Tennant, C, Hurry, J (1985). The list of threatening experiences: a subset of 12 life event categories with considerable long-term contextual threat. Psychological Medicine 15, 189–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butterworth, P, Olesen, SC, Leach, LS (2013). Socioeconomic differences in antidepressant use in the PATH Through Life Study: evidence of health inequalities, prescribing bias, or an effective social safety net? Journal of Affective Disorders 149, 75–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, R, Sullivan, CM, Davidson, WS (1995). Women who use domestic violence shelters changes in depression over time. Psychology of Women Quarterly 19, 237–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeForge, BR, Belcher, JR, O’Rourke, M, Lindsey, MA (2008). Personal resources and homelessness in early life: predictors of depression in consumers of homeless multiservice centers. Journal of Loss and Trauma 13, 222–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demyttenaere, K, Bonnewyn, A, Bruffaerts, R, De Girolamo, G, Gasquet, I, Kovess, V, Haro, JM, Alonso, J (2008). Clinical factors influencing the prescription of antidepressants and benzodiazepines: results from the European study of the epidemiology of mental disorders (ESEMeD). Journal of Affective Disorders 110, 84–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, HL, Craig, TK, Fearon, P, Morgan, K, Dazzan, P, Lappin, J, Hutchinson, G, Doody, GA, Jones, PB, McGuffin, P, Murray, RM, Leff, J, Morgan, C (2011). Reliability and comparability of psychosis patients’ retrospective reports of childhood abuse. Schizophrenia Bull 37, 546–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Furnham, A, Malik, R (1994). Cross-cultural beliefs about “depression”. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 40, 106–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, LA, Corcoran, C, Turner, K, Yuan, N, Green, BL (1998). Assessing traumatic event exposure: general issues and preliminary findings for the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire. Journal of Traumatic Stress 11, 521–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasin, DS, Goodwin, RD, Stinson, FS, Grant, BF (2005). Epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcoholism and Related Conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry 62, 1097–1106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jordanova, V, Wickramesinghe, C, Gerada, C, Prince, M (2004). Validation of two survey diagnostic interviews among primary care attendees: a comparison of CIS-R and CIDI with SCAN ICD-10 diagnostic categories. Psychological Medicine 34, 1013–1024.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joutsenniemi, K, Martelin, T, Martikainen, P, Pirkola, S, Koskinen, S (2006). Living arrangements and mental health in Finland. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 60, 468–475.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RC, Berglund, P, Demler, O, Jin, R, Koretz, D, Merikangas, KR, Rush, AJ, Walters, EE, Wang, PS (2003). The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). JAMA 289, 3095–3105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kish, L (1965). Survey Sampling. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
Lewer, D, O’Reilly, C, Mojtabai, R, Evans-Lacko, S (2015). Antidepressant use in 27 European countries: associations with sociodemographic, cultural and economic factors. British Journal of Psychiatry 207, 221–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewinsohn, PM, Hoberman, H, Teri, L, Hautzinger, M (1985). An integrative theory of depression. In Theoretical Issues in Behavior Therapy (ed. R. Reiss and R. Bootzin), pp. 331–359. Academic Press: New York.Google Scholar
Lewis, G, Pelosi, AJ (1990). Manual of the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R). Institute of Psychiatry: London.Google Scholar
Lorant, V, Deliège, D, Eaton, W, Robert, A, Philippot, P, Ansseau, M (2003). Socioeconomic inequalities in depression: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology 157, 98–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maguire, A, Moriarty, J, O’Reilly, D, McCann, M (2017). Education as a predictor of antidepressant and anxiolytic medication use after bereavement: a population based record linkage study. Quality of Life Research 26, 1251–1262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClure, I (2014). The Script Report (http://www.thedetail.tv/articles/new-data-shows-northern-ireland-is-a-world-leader-in-prescription-drug-use). Accessed 5 December 2017.Google Scholar
McManus, S, Bebbington, P, Jenkins, R, Brugha, T (2016). Mental Health and Wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014. NHS Digital: Leeds.Google Scholar
McManus, S, Meltzer, H, Brugha, TS, Bebbington, PE, Jenkins, R (2009). Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007: Results of a Household Survey. The NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care: UK.Google Scholar
Mental Health Foundation (2005). Up and Running? Exercise Therapy and the Treatment of Mild or Moderate Depression in Primary Care. Mental Health Foundation: London.Google Scholar
Mercier, A, Auger-Aubin, I, Lebeau, JP, Schuers, M, Boulet, P, Hermil, JL, Van Royen, P, Peremans, L (2013). Evidence of prescription of antidepressants for non-psychiatric conditions in primary care: an analysis of guidelines and systematic reviews. BMC Family Practice 14, 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-14-55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mojtabai, R, Olfson, M (2011). Proportion of antidepressants prescribed without a psychiatric diagnosis is growing. Health Affairs 30, 1434–1442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnar, BE, Buka, SL, Kessler, RC (2001). Child sexual abuse and subsequent psychopathology: results from the National Comorbidity Survey. American Journal of Public Health 91, 753–760.Google ScholarPubMed
Monden, CW, Metsä-Simola, N, Saarioja, S, Martikainen, P (2015). Divorce and subsequent increase in uptake of antidepressant medication: a Finnish registry based study on couple versus individual effects. BMC Public Health 15, 158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munoz-Arroyo, R, Sutton, M, Morrison, J (2006). Exploring potential explanations for the increase in antidepressant prescribing in Scotland using secondary analyses of routine data. British Journal of General Practice 56, 423–428.Google ScholarPubMed
Office for National Statistics (2016). Population of the United Kingdom by country of birth and nationality 2015 [dataset] (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/populationoftheunitedkingdombycountryofbirthandnationality). Accessed 5 December 2017.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017). Health at a Glance: 2017. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Publishing: Paris.Google Scholar
Pulkki-Råback, L, Kivimäki, M, Ahola, K, Joutsenniemi, K, Elovainio, M, Rossi, H, Puttonen, S, Koskinen, S, Isometsä, E, Lönnqvist, J, Virtanen, M (2012). Living alone and antidepressant medication use: a prospective study in a working-age population. BMC Public Health 12, 236. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Read, J, Gibson, KL, Cartwright, C (2016). Are older people prescribed antidepressants on the basis of fewer symptoms of depression, and for longer periods of time? A survey of 1825 New Zealanders. Australasian Journal of Ageing 35, 193–197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, D, Peplau, LA, Ferguson, ML (1978). Developing a measure of loneliness. Journal of Personality Assessment 42, 290–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seedat, S, Scott, KM, Angermeyer, MC, Berglund, P, Bromet, EJ, Brugha, TS, Demyttenaere, K, De Girolamo, G, Haro, JM, Jin, R, Karam, EG (2009). Cross-national associations between gender and mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 785–795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stagg, HR, Jones, J, Bickler, G, Abubakar, I (2012). Poor uptake of primary healthcare registration among recent entrants to the UK: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open 2, e001453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ware, JE, Kosinski, M, Keller, SD (1996). A 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey: construction of scales and preliminary tests of reliability and validity. Medical Care 34, 220–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wig, N, Suckman, M, Routledge, R, Srinvasa Murthy, R, Ladrido-Ignacio, L, Ibrahim, H, Harding, T (1980). Community reaction to mental disorders: a key informant study in three developing countries. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia 61, 111–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, LM, Debattista, C, Duchemin, AM, Schatzberg, AF, Nemeroff, CB (2016). Childhood trauma predicts antidepressant response in adults with major depression: data from the randomized international study to predict optimized treatment for depression. Translational Psychiatry 6, 799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1993). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Diagnostic Criteria for Research. World Health Organisation: Geneva.Google Scholar
Zeiss, AM, Lewinsohn, PM, Rohde, P, Seeley, JR (1996). Relationship of physical disease and functional impairment to depression in older people. Psychology and Ageing 11, 572–581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed