Table 2.
Population and treatment characteristics: descriptive, geographical, and health care variables, AD drug classes, prescription source, and psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care by categories of length of AD prescription including difference statistics for 2019
| Total | Short | Medium | Long | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD)/n (%) | Mean (SD)/n (%) | Mean (SD)/n (%) | Mean (SD)/n (%) | p | |
| N | 80,144 | 22,858 (28.5%) | 11,298 (14.1%) | 45,988 (57.4%) | |
| Gender (women) | 52,531 (65.5%) | 14,530 (63.6%) | 7200 (63.7%) | 30,801 (67.0%) | < 0.001a |
| Age | 60.4 (19.4) | 55.5 (19.8) | 57.6 (20.3) | 63.5 (18.4) | < 0.001b |
| Age group | < 0.001a | ||||
| 19–30 | 6295 (7.9%) | 2908 (12.7%) | 1204 (10.7%) | 2183 (4.7%) | |
| 31–40 | 7970 (9.9%) | 3027 (13.2%) | 1462 (12.9%) | 3481 (7.6%) | |
| 41–50 | 11,513 (14.4%) | 3674 (16.1%) | 1739 (15.4%) | 6100 (13.3%) | |
| 51–60 | 14,606 (18.2%) | 4168 (18.2%) | 2026 (17.9%) | 8412 (18.3%) | |
| 61–70 | 11,688 (14.6%) | 2907 (12.7%) | 1404 (12.4%) | 7377 (16.0%) | |
| 71–80 | 12,926 (16.1%) | 3141 (13.7%) | 1479 (13.1%) | 8306 (18.1%) | |
| > 80 | 15,146 (18.9%) | 3033 (13.3%) | 1984 (17.6%) | 10,129 (22.0%) | |
| Region of residence | < 0.001a | ||||
| Zurich | 19,049 (23.8%) | 5759 (25.2%) | 2747 (24.3%) | 10,543 (22.9%) | |
| Midland | 16,654 (20.8%) | 4515 (19.8%) | 2287 (20.2%) | 9852 (21.4%) | |
| Lemanic region | 12,610 (15.7%) | 3556 (15.6%) | 1831 (16.2%) | 7223 (15.7%) | |
| Northwestern | 10,844 (13.5%) | 3088 (13.5%) | 1500 (13.3%) | 6256 (13.6%) | |
| Eastern | 9212 (11.5%) | 2654 (11.6%) | 1267 (11.2%) | 5291 (11.5%) | |
| Ticino | 6376 (8.0%) | 1610 (7.0%) | 880 (7.8%) | 3886 (8.5%) | |
| Central | 5399 (6.7%) | 1676 (7.3%) | 786 (7.0%) | 2937 (6.4%) | |
| Language region | < 0.001a | ||||
| German | 58,375 (72.8%) | 16,896 (73.9%) | 8146 (72.1%) | 33,333 (72.5%) | |
| French | 15,194 (19.0%) | 4293 (18.8%) | 2240 (19.8%) | 8661 (18.8%) | |
| Italian | 6575 (8.2%) | 1669 (7.3%) | 912 (8.1%) | 3994 (8.7%) | |
| Area | = 0.003a | ||||
| Urban | 55,223 (68.9%) | 15,982 (69.9%) | 7850 (69.5%) | 31,391 (68.3%) | |
| intmed | 15,076 (18.8%) | 4264 (18.7%) | 2085 (18.5%) | 8727 (19.0%) | |
| Rural | 9845 (12.3%) | 2612 (11.4%) | 1363 (12.1%) | 5870 (12.8%) | |
| Standard care model | 37,964 (47.4%) | 8940 (39.1%) | 4764 (42.2%) | 24,260 (52.8%) | < 0.001a |
| Franchise (low) | 68,538 (85.5%) | 18,579 (81.3%) | 9307 (82.4%) | 40,652 (88.4%) | < 0.001a |
| Nurs (yes) | 6852 (8.5%) | 834 (3.6%) | 1031 (9.1%) | 4987 (10.8%) | < 0.001a |
| AD drug class | |||||
| TCA | 7938 (9.9%) | 2250 (9.8%) | 1091 (9.7%) | 4597 (10.0%) | = 0.500 |
| SSRI | 33,126 (41.3%) | 5235 (22.9%) | 4323 (38.3%) | 23 568 (51.2%) | < 0.001a |
| MAOI | 98 (0.1%) | 10 (0.0%) | 14 (0.1%) | 74 (0.2%) | < 0.001a |
| Mirtazapine | 10,722 (13.4%) | 2456 (10.7%) | 1470 (13.0%) | 6796 (14.8%) | < 0.001a |
| Venlafaxine | 5450 (6.8%) | 562 (2.5%) | 504 (4.5%) | 4384 (9.5%) | < 0.001a |
| St. John’s wort | 5930 (7.4%) | 2653 (11.6%) | 1105 (9.8%) | 2172 (4.7%) | < 0.001a |
| Other ADs | 21,127 (26.4%) | 4682 (20.5%) | 2959 (26.2%) | 13,486 (29.3%) | < 0.001a |
| Number of prescriptions | 3.1 (2.9) | 1.1 (1.1) | 2.5 (2.3) | 4.3 (3.0) | < 0.001a |
| Prescription source | |||||
| GP | 48,404 (60.4%) | 11,293 (49.4%) | 6239 (55.2%) | 30,872 (67.1%) | < 0.001a |
| Psychiatrists/psychiatric clinics | 18,071 (22.5%) | 2893 (12.7%) | 2557 (22.6%) | 12,621 (27.4%) | < 0.001a |
| Hospital | 8647 (10.8%) | 1571 (6.9%) | 1251 (11.1%) | 5825 (12.7%) | < 0.001a |
| Other prescription source | 6658 (8.3%) | 1589 (7.0%) | 880 (7.8%) | 4189 (9.1%) | < 0.001a |
| Psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care | 27,994 (34.9%) | 6002 (26.3%) | 4323 (38.3%) | 17,669 (38.4%) | < 0.001a |
Area: intermediate area (intmed): dense urban areas and rural centers; Franchise: high ≥ 500 CHF, low ≤ 500 CHF
CH Switzerland, intmed intermediate area, Nurs nursing home, TCA tricyclic antidepressants (N06AA), SSRI selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (N06AB), MAOI monoamine oxidase inhibitors (N06AG), GP general practitioner, others combination of providers
aPearson's chi-square test
bANOVA