Table 2.
Demographic characteristics for participants who reduced or stopped antidepressants and participants who remained on antidepressants
| Stopped ADM n = 179 |
Did not stop ADM n = 128 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years), M (SD) | 46.51 (12.85) | 45.79 (12.85) | |
| n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Sex (female) | 131 (73.18) | 107 (83.59) | |
| Highest education level reached | |||
| Completed year 12 or less | 95 (53.0) | 71 (55.50) | |
| Certificate/diploma | 43 (24.0) | 36 (28.10) | |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 41 (23.0) | 21 (16.40) | |
| Employment status | |||
| Full-time | 42 (23.46) | 29 (22.66) | |
| Part-time/casual | 49 (27.37) | 27 (21.09) | |
| Full-time education | 14 (7.82) | 13 (10.16) | |
| Unemployed, looking for work | 13 (7.26) | 10 (7.81) | |
| Unable to work due to sickness or disability | 28 (15.64) | 24 (18.75) | |
| Length of ADM treatment* | |||
| <1 month to <3 months | 25 (15.26) | 27 (21.43) | |
| 3 months to <1 year | 17 (10.35) | 31 (24.60) | |
| 1 year to 2+ years | 121 (73.78) | 68 (53.97) | |
| Don’t know | 1 (0.61) | – | |
| Depression severity (PHQ-9**), M (SD) | 12.65 (6.27) | 11.71 (6.40) | |
| None-minimal | 14 (7.8) | 16 (12.5) | |
| Mild | 52 (29.1) | 42 (32.8) | |
| Moderate | 49 (27.4) | 29 (22.7) | |
| Moderately severe | 29 (16.2) | 22 (17.2) | |
| Severe | 35 (19.5) | 19 (14.8) | |
Note: ADM = antidepressant medication; *n variation due to missing data; ** PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (Kroenke et al., 2001).