Table 5.
Frequency of Antidepressant, Hypnotic, and Anxiolytic Drug Use Within the First 3 Months After a Diagnosis of Depressiona
| Variable | Depression Cohort (n=47,170) |
| Total treated (among patients with depression) | 38,754 (82.3) |
| Antidepressantsb | 37,897 (97.8) |
| TCA-Ser | 3,871 (10.0) |
| TCA-Nor | 1,077 (2.8) |
| SSRIs | 31,578 (81.5) |
| SNRIs | 2,664 (6.9) |
| MAOIs | 9 (0.0) |
| Other antidepressantsc | 1,802 (4.6) |
| Hypnotics | 4,398 (11.3) |
| Anxiolytics | 2,206 (5.7) |
| Overall treatment patterns | |
| Antidepressants alone | 32,653 (84.3) |
| Antidepressants and hypnotics | 3,356 (8.7) |
| Antidepressants and anxiolytics | 1,433 (3.7) |
| Antidepressants, hypnotics, and anxiolytics | 455 (1.2) |
Data are presented as n (% treated patients).
The numbers for the different groups sum to more than 37,897 because some patients were prescribed more than 1 type of antidepressant drug.
Other antidepressants: mianserin, bupropion, reboxetine, mirtazapine, dibenzepin, maprotiline, iprindole, nomifensine, viloxazine, trazodone, nefazodone, opipramol, flupentixol, and tryptophan.
Abbreviations: MAOIs=monoamine oxidase inhibitors, SNRIs=serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs=selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, TCA-Nor=tricyclic antidepressants with a predominant action on the reuptake of norepinephrine, TCA-Ser=tricyclic antidepressants with an inhibitory action on the reuptake of serotonin.