Patterns of antidepressants utilization among depressive men in Malaysia: a survey

• Main Authors: Fata Nahas, Abdul Rahman, Syed Sulaiman, Syed Azhar
• Format: Proceeding Paper
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: RS Pharmacy and materia medica
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/107303/8/107303_Patterns%20of%20antidepressants.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/107303/9/107303_Patterns%20of%20antidepressants_supplemental.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/107303/

Background: Recent studies on the prescribing pattern of antidepressants showed a significant shift towards selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in many countries. Little reports investigated depressive populations for antidepressants prescribing in Malaysia. Objective: This study aimed to explore the patterns of prescribed antidepressants in a Malaysian group of depressive patients throughout their years of depression. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 119 adult male depressive outpatients were recruited from three psychiatric centers. Patients’ age and duration of depression were recorded, as well as their current and past antidepressants prescribed. Results: Of the study participants, 107 patients (89.9%) were currently antidepressant-treated. Mean age of patients was 49.9 (SD=11.0), whereas mean duration of depression was 7.8 years (SD=6.1). Notably, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the most currently prescribed antidepressants (72.9%), followed by tricyclic antidepressants (10.3%). Furthermore, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors predominated the prescribed antidepressants over the years of depression. There was also an increase in the share of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during these years in the expenses of other antidepressants, especially tricyclic antidepressants, which failed from 34.1%, in the years preceding 2005, to 10.3% in the current time. Conclusion: In parallel with various studies in several countries, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the most frequent prescribed antidepressants and their prescribing was increasing over nearly the last 10 years. Further studies are recommended to investigate these findings in larger depression cohorts.