A decline in depression treatment following FDA antidepressant warnings largely explains racial/ethnic disparities in prescription fills.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Food and Drug Administration's 2004 antidepressant warning was followed by decreases in antidepressant prescribing for youth. This was due to declines in all types of depression treatment, not just the intended changes in antidepressant prescribing patterns. Little is known about how these patterns varied by race/ethnicity.

Method

Data are Medicaid claims from four U.S. states (2002-2009) for youth ages 5-17. Interrupted time series analyses measured changes due to the warning in levels and trends, by race/ethnicity, of three outcomes: antidepressant prescription fills, depression treatment visits, and incident fluoxetine prescription fills.

Results

Prewarning, antidepressant fills were increasing across all racial/ethnic groups, fastest for White youth

SUBMITTER: Carson NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5895183 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature