Explaining the rise in antidepressant prescribing: a descriptive study using the general practice research database.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore the reasons behind the recent increase in antidepressant prescribing in the United Kingdom. Design Detailed retrospective analysis of data on general practitioner consultations and antidepressant prescribing. Data source Data were obtained from the general practice research database, which contains linked anonymised records of over 3 million patients registered in the UK. Data were extracted for all new incident cases of depression between 1993 and 2005. Review methods Detailed analysis of general practitioner consultations and antidepressant prescribing was restricted to 170 practices that were contributing data for the full duration of the study.

Results

In total, 189 851 people within the general practice research database experienced their first epis

SUBMITTER: Moore M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2762496 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature