TABLE 3.
Chart Notations: Mental Health-Related Symptoms, Substance Use, Stressful Life Events, Suicidality, and Other Characteristics During 12 Months Prior to Newly Starting Antidepressant
| 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 | |
| Mental health-related symptoms or a formal diagnosis | |||||||
| Anxiety or PTSD | 60.3 | 50.0 | 61.6 | 57.8 | 53.5 | 66.3 | 63.0 |
| Depression | 92.3 | 89.5 | 87.7 | 93.8 | 90.7 | 94.9 | 91.4 |
| Mania or manic behavior | 2.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 4.9 |
| Psychosis | 5.1 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 4.7 | 9.2 | 6.2 |
| Impulsivity | 7.7 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 7.8 | 2.3 | 7.1 | 8.6 |
| Chronic or acute pain | 64.1 | 63.2 | 64.4 | 67.2 | 73.3 | 69.4 | 76.5 |
| Various sleep problemsa | 73.1 | 59.2 | 52.1 | 62.5 | 65.1 | 82.7 | 64.2 |
| Aggression/aggressive actions | 5.1 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 1.2 |
| Substance abuse/dependence | |||||||
| Alcohol | 21.8 | 11.8 | 19.2 | 25.0 | 18.6 | 28.6 | 19.8 |
| Illicit drug | 7.7 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 14.1 | 7.0 | 15.3 | 9.9 |
| Prescription drug misuse | 5.1 | 1.3 | 6.9 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 8.2 | 3.7 |
| Tobacco usea | 30.8 | 30.3 | 35.6 | 42.2 | 65.1 | 52.0 | 37.0 |
| Stressful life events | |||||||
| General family problems | 23.1 | 18.4 | 17.8 | 12.5 | 16.3 | 24.5 | 18.5 |
| Suicide of family member | 3.9 | 7.9 | 1.4 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 3.7 |
| Death of family member | 11.5 | 5.3 | 15.1 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 10.2 | 7.4 |
| Marital/intimate problema | 16.7 | 10.5 | 8.2 | 18.8 | 18.6 | 34.7 | 17.3 |
| Social environment problemsa | 9.0 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 21.4 | 12.4 |
| Difficulty access to health care | 6.4 | 7.9 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 8.2 | 9.9 |
| Legal system/crime problems | 7.7 | 7.9 | 9.6 | 10.9 | 10.5 | 20.4 | 7.4 |
| Other psychosocial or environment problems | 2.6 | 2.6 | 5.5 | 0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0 |
| Chronic illness or pain | 82.1 | 75.0 | 72.6 | 85.9 | 79.1 | 75.5 | 81.5 |
| Economic/financial problems | 28.2 | 14.5 | 21.9 | 23.4 | 27.9 | 34.7 | 28.4 |
| Educational problems | 1.3 | 2.6 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| Occupational problems | 44.9 | 35.5 | 28.8 | 42.2 | 34.9 | 46.9 | 37.0 |
| Housing problems | 11.5 | 10.5 | 15.1 | 14.1 | 15.1 | 20.4 | 19.8 |
| Number of stressors, mean (SD, range)a | 2.5 (1.7, 7) | 2.0 (1.3, 5) | 2.1 (1.6, 7) | 2.3 (1.4, 5) | 2.2 (1.5, 6) | 3.0 (1.8, 7) | 2.5 (1.8, 7) |
| Suicidality or violence | |||||||
| Suicide attempt | 1.3 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 6.2 |
| Suicidal ideation or attemptb | 19.2 | 17.1 | 13.7 | 28.1 | 12.8 | 29.6 | 23.5 |
| Suicidal plan | 6.4 | 4.0 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 5.8 | 11.2 | 11.1 |
| Access to suicidal means | 6.4 | 2.6 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 2.3 | 9.2 | 9.9 |
| Access to guns | 3.9 | 6.6 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 4.9 |
| Violent intent | 9.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 4.7 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 2.5 |
| Homicidal thought | 9.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 3.1 | 7.0 | 7.1 | 2.5 |
| Mental health treatments received or considered | |||||||
| Hospitalization considered for psychological symptoms | 9.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 17.2 | 9.3 | 15.3 | 13.6 |
| Attended AA or self-helpc | 7.7 | 0 | 5.5 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 9.2 | 2.5 |
| Homelessness intervention | 5.1 | 2.6 | 11.0 | 6.3 | 3.5 | 11.2 | 8.6 |
| VA substance abuse treatmentc | 11.5 | 5.3 | 11.0 | 20.3 | 14.0 | 19.4 | 11.1 |
Note: Cell values are percentages, unless otherwise stated.
a P < 0.01 for comparison across all antidepressant agents by chi-square tests for categorical variables or analysis of variance for count variables.
b P < 0.05.
c Does not include tobacco cessation program.
AA = Alcoholics Anonymous; PTSD = post-traumatic stress disorder; SD = standard deviation; SSRI = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; VA = Veterans Affairs.