Impact of duration of antidepressant treatment on the risk of occurrence of a new sequence of antidepressant treatment
Pharmacopsychiatry, 05/16/2011
Clinical Article
Verdoux H et al. – The lower risk of re-initiation of antidepressant treatment in persons with shorter-than-recommended duration of antidepressant treatment might be explained by overprescription of antidepressants in persons with sub-threshold symptoms.
Methods- Follow-up study of persons (n=35 053) starting antidepressant treatment
- epresentative sample of French Social Security Insurance national database
- Risk of re-initiation of antidepressant treatment higher if duration of index episode of antidepressant treatment was ≥6 months HR=2.35; 95% CI 2.25-2.45) or 2-5 months (HR=1.65; 95% CI 1.59-1.71) compared to ≤1 month
- Other characteristics independently associated with re-initiation of treatment were older age, female gender, low income, serious chronic illness, index prescription by a specialist and co-prescription of other psychotropic drugs
