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Potentially Inappropriate Antidepressant Prescriptions Among Older Adults in Office-Based Outpatient Settings: National Trends from 2002 to 2012

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Abstract

Using data from 2002 to 2012 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, we estimated that the prevalence of overall antidepressant prescriptions increased almost twofold from 5.2% in 2002 to 10.1% in 2012 in office-based outpatient visits made by older adults. In addition, older adults were exposed to the risk of potentially avoidable adverse drug events in approximately one in ten antidepressant-related visits, or 2.2 million visits annually. Amitriptyline and doxepin were the two most frequent disease-independent potentially inappropriate antidepressants. Racial/ethnic minorities, and Medicaid beneficiaries had higher odds of potentially inappropriate antidepressant prescriptions (P < 0.05). Efforts to minimize potentially inappropriate antidepressant prescriptions are needed.

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Funding

This study was funded to Dr. Rhee in part by St. Peter and Leiner Family Outcomes Research Fellowship, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.

Disclaimers

Publicly available data were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Analyses, interpretation, and conclusions are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Division of Health Interview Statistics or NCHS of the CDC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Taeho Greg Rhee

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Taeho Greg Rhee, Jon C. Schommer, Ronald L. Hadsall & Donald L. Uden

  3. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Beatrix D. Capistrant

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  1. Taeho Greg Rhee
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  2. Jon C. Schommer
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  3. Beatrix D. Capistrant
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  4. Ronald L. Hadsall
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  5. Donald L. Uden
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Contributions

Dr. TGR conceived the study, acquired data, analyzed and interpreted the data, led the writing of the manuscript, and oversaw every aspect of the study. Drs. JCS, BDC, RLH, and DLU contributed to the interpretation of the data, and critically revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Taeho Greg Rhee.

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The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Using publicly available de-identified data, the research procedure for this study was exempted from the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board.

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Rhee, T.G., Schommer, J.C., Capistrant, B.D. et al. Potentially Inappropriate Antidepressant Prescriptions Among Older Adults in Office-Based Outpatient Settings: National Trends from 2002 to 2012. Adm Policy Ment Health 45, 224–235 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-017-0817-y

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