TABLE 1.

Demographic Characteristics by the Newly Starting Antidepressants After at Least 12 Months of No Antidepressant Use in Randomly Selected Patients from April 1999 to September 2004 (N = 556)

Characteristics	SSRI								Non-SSRI
	Citalopram		Fluoxetine		Paroxetine		Sertraline		Bupropion		Mirtazapine		Venlafaxine
	n = 78		n = 76		n = 73		n = 64		n = 86		n = 98		n = 81
	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)	%	(n)
Male	94.9	(74)	88.2	(67)	84.9	(62)	98.4	(63)	86.1	(74)	94.9	(93)	91.4	(74)
Age
< 50 years	26.9	(21)	34.2	(26)	23.3	(17)	21.9	(14)	48.8	(42)	32.7	(32)	28.4	(23)
50-59 years	25.6	(20)	30.3	(23)	31.5	(23)	34.4	(22)	30.2	(26)	32.7	(32)	32.1	(26)
60-69 years	19.2	(15)	19.7	(15)	21.9	(16)	20.3	(13)	16.3	(14)	13.3	(13)	16.1	(13)
≥ 70 years	28.2	(22)	15.8	(12)	23.3	(17)	23.4	(15)	4.7	(4)	21.4	(21)	23.5	(19)
Mean (SD)	59.4	(14.4)	55.7	(13.0)	59.1	(13.3)	59.1	(13.4)	50.6	(11.9)	56.3	(14.0)	56.9	(14.1)
Race
White	91.0	(71)	82.9	(63)	76.7	(56)	82.8	(53)	82.6	(71)	74.5	(73)	82.7	(67)
Black	7.7	(6)	11.8	(9)	21.9	(16)	12.5	(8)	14.0	(12)	21.4	(21)	13.6	(11)
Other/unknown	1.3	(1)	5.3	(4)	1.4	(1)	4.7	(3)	3.5	(3)	4.1	(4)	3.7	(3)
Hispanic	7.7	(6)	1.3	(1)	2.7	(2)	3.1	(2)	2.3	(2)	10.2	(10)	3.7	(3)
Years since depression diagnosis, mean (SD)	0.2	(0.7)	0.2	(0.5)	0.2	(0.6)	0.2	(0.4)	0.4	(1.0)	0.4	(0.7)	0.4	(0.8)

Note: Distributions of demographic variables across all antidepressant agents are significant for male (P = 0.03), age (P = 0.03, chi-square test; P < 0.001, analysis of variance), Hispanic ethnicity (P = 0.05), and years since depression diagnosis (P = 0.02).

SD = standard deviation; SSRI = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.