Prevalence of Antidepressant Use Among Older People: Population‐Based Observations

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of antidepressant use with respect to age, gender, and time during a 5‐year period from 1993 to 1997. DESIGN: A retrospective, population‐based study in which data regarding a cross‐sectional series of annual antidepressant use were obtained from administrative claims and census databases for more than 1.4 million older persons during calendar years 1993 through 1997. PARTICIPANTS: All residents of Ontario aged 65 or older. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in the prevalence of antidepressant users as a function of age group, gender, and time. RESULTS: A general, positive, linear trend in the prevalence of antidepressant users with increasing age group was consistently detected regardless of gender and year assessed (P < .001 for both genders and all years). The age‐adjusted relative risk of women being dispensed an antidepressant relative to men was significantly higher during each year but seemed to decrease slightly over time: 1.74 (95% CI, 1.72‐1.76) in 1993 and 1.65 (95% CI, 1.63‐1.67) in 1997. The multiple linear regression model revealed significant relationships between the prevalence of antidepressant users and increasing age group, female gender, and increasing year of assessment (P < .001 for each variable). The prevalence was observed to range from a low of 5.6% in 65 to 69‐year‐old men in 1993 to a high of 17.2% among 85 to 89‐year‐old women in 1997. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that the prevalence of antidepressant users is dynamic and is significantly and independently associated with age, gender, and time of assessment. J Am Geriatr Soc 47:1350–1353,1999.