Pattern evolution of antidepressants and benzodiazepines use in a cohort

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In recent decades there has been an increase in the use of antidepressants (AD) and a decrease in the use of benzodiazepines (BDZ). Prevalence, cumulative incidence, and factors associated with the incidence of AD and BDZ use in a Brazilian population were estimated in this article. METHODS: Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire in a cohort of employees from a university in Rio de Janeiro. The prevalence of the use of AD and BDZ was calculated for 1999 (4,030), 2001 (3,574), 2006-07 (3,058), and 2012 (2,933). The cumulative incidences of the use of AD and BDZ between 1999 and 2007 were estimated by the Poisson models with robust variance estimates. RESULTS: In 1999, the prevalence of the use of AD and BDZ were 1.4% (95%CI: 1.1–1.8) and 4.7% (95%CI: 4.1–5.4), respectively; in 2012, they were 5.4% (95%CI: 5.5–6.2) and 6.8% (95%CI: 6.0–7.8). The incidence of use, between 1999 and 2007, was 4.9% (95%CI: 4.2–5.7) for AD and 8.3% (95%CI: 7.3–9.3) for BDZ. The incidences of AD and BDZ use were higher among women and participants with a positive General Health Questionnaire. CONCLUSION: In this population, the increase in the use of AD was not accompanied by a decrease in the use of BDZ, showing the prescriptions for psychotropic medication do not follow the currently recommended guidelines for treatment of common mental health disorders.

Trends in Brazilian market of antidepressants: A five-year dataset analysis

“…An apparent gradual replacement of the traditional antidepressants (tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors) by newer ones (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and 'other' antidepressants) can be outlined in Brazil. A cohort of employees from Brazilian universities Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org (Alcantara et al, 2020) observed a decrease in tricyclic use from 60% in 1999 to 15% in 2012, while selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use increased from 29% to 67%, and 'other' antidepressants increased from 5% to 13% in the same period. A similar result was observed in a cross-sectional study of antidepressant utilization in all Iranian relevant population from 2006 to 2013 (Soleymani et al, 2018).…”

Prevalence of psychotropic and antidepressant use in a Brazilian Amazon city: analysis of two cross-sectional studies

“…The prevalence of psychotropic use found in our study was lower than the 9% reported in a Brazilian household survey conducted in 2013-2014 with 32,348 participants, which also observed a lower prevalence in the Northern region, where Manaus is located 12 . A cohort of adults from Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil also observed an increase in antidepressant use, from 1.4% in 1999 to 5.4% in 2012 13 . Inequities in the use and access to health services and medicines in the Amazon, particularly among vulnerable individuals, may explain the regional differences experienced by its inhabitants 14 .…”