EPP200 - Major Depressive Disorder and Patterns of Antidepressant Prescription in Greece: Α Pharmacoepidemiological Study
EPP200
Major Depressive Disorder and Patterns of Antidepressant Prescription in Greece: Α Pharmacoepidemiological Study
R. I. Gournellis 1,*, I. Tollos 1, C. Doukas 1, M. Hadjulis 2, I. Michopoulos 1, P. Mitrou 3, E. Thireos 4, K. Mathioudakis 5 5, P. Skapinakis 6, V. Karageorgiou 1
1Second Department of Psychiatry, 2Faculty of Nursing, , National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , 3Hellenic Ministry of Health, 4National Agency for Quality Assurance in Health S.A, 5IDIKA SA - e-Government Center for Social Security Services, Athens, 6Department of Psychiatry, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Introduction: Psychopharmacological epidemiological data regarding Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are based on small-scale representative studies.
Objectives: Our study aims to determine the one-year prevalence of major depressive disorder under antidepressant treatment, identify the severity of MDD, and describe patterns of antidepressant prescription for MDD in Greece.
Methods: The electronic prescription database of the e-Government Centre for Social Security was used to describe the characteristics, the diagnoses and the prescription patterns in patients that received at least two prescriptions of antidepressants, with an ICD-10 code relevant to unipolar depression, during the 1-year period between 1st of February 2019 and 31st January 2020. All the beneficiaries of the National Organization for Health Care Services Provision were covered.
Results: The study population (n=369,860) indicates a 1-year prevalence of antidepressant-prescribed unipolar depression of 3.5%, with clear predominance of females (females: 72.5%), and mean sample age 65.1 years (standard deviation: 15.3). Concerning the severity of the diagnoses, 52.0% of the sample was characterized as “mild-moderate” severity, 6.6% was characterized as “severe” severity, and 56.2% was characterized as “unspecified” severity. 86.2% of the patients received one antidepressant, 12.1% of the patients received two antidepressants, and 1.7% of the patients received at least three antidepressants. The most commonly prescribed category of antidepressants was “SSRIs”, (78.3% ), followed by “SNRIs” (17.1%).
Conclusions: The prevalence of antidepressant-prescribed MDD was estimated at 3.5%. Identifying the prescription patterns of antidepressant treatment for MDD is of paramount importance in formulating policies for a cost-effective and quality-acceptable management of the disorder.
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared