Table 2.
Patterns of antidepressant use in 2013, by age group and sex
| Children (0–11 years) | Adolescents (12–17 years) | Young adults (18–24 years) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | |||
| Number of users | 583 | 3920 | 16,937 |
| Type (%)a | |||
| TCA | 1.2 | 2.2 | 4.6 |
| SSRI | 95.9 | 92.7 | 75.0 |
| SNRI | <0.1 | 1.5 | 13.3 |
| MAOI | <0.1 | <0.1 | 0.1 |
| Other | 3.6 | 8.6 | 25.2 |
| Source (%) | |||
| Primary care | 2.7 | 8.3 | 41.3 |
| Non-psychiatric specialist care | 18.9 | 13.5 | 6.1 |
| Psychiatric care | 78.4 | 78.2 | 52.7 |
| Duration of medication (%) | |||
| Single prescriptionb | 9.4 | 9.5 | 17.2 |
| Short term (≤ 6 m) | 9.6 | 10.3 | 13.2 |
| Medium term (6 < x ≤ 12 m) | 11.5 | 15.2 | 15.9 |
| Long term (> 12 m) | 69.5 | 65.0 | 53.7 |
| Female | |||
| Number of users | 250 | 6113 | 31,051 |
| Type (%)a | |||
| TCA | 6.4 | 2.7 | 5.5 |
| SSRI | 93.2 | 94.3 | 81.5 |
| SNRI | <0.1 | 1.8 | 13.1 |
| MAOI | <0.1 | <0.1 | 0.1 |
| Other | 0.8 | 7.8 | 16.2 |
| Source (%) | |||
| Primary care | 4.8 | 10.5 | 45.5 |
| Non-psychiatric specialist care | 21.2 | 7.2 | 6.3 |
| Psychiatric care | 74.0 | 82.3 | 48.2 |
| Duration of medication (%) | |||
| Single prescription** | 9.2 | 7.8 | 13.9 |
| Short term (≤ 6 m) | 8.0 | 11.6 | 10.8 |
| Medium term (6 < x ≤ 12 m) | 12.0 | 14.8 | 15.5 |
| Long term (> 12 m) | 70.8 | 65.9 | 59.8 |
a Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA); selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI); serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI); monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI)
b Note that single prescriptions here entail single dispensed prescriptions of any antidepressant drug. “Switching” between different types of antidepressant drugs is not captured by this number