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Cited by 23Mental Health Treatment and AccessTreatment of Major DepressionOpioid Use Disorder Treatment

Prevalence, trends, and individual patterns of long-term antidepressant medication use in the adult Swiss general population

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Amrein, Melanie A., Hengartner, Michael P., Näpflin, Markus, Farcher, Renato, Huber, Carola A.·2023·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
DOI 10.1007/s00228-023-03559-4PMC PMC10618304

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Abstract

Purpose: Antidepressant use has increased in many European countries, mostly driven by longer treatment duration. The aim of this study was to provide prevalence rates of long-term users of antidepressants for the Swiss population over the last decade and to investigate associated factors for longer use. Methods: We examined the prevalence rates of individuals with at least one prescription for antidepressants using longitudinal health claims data for 2013 to 2021. We defined short- (< one year), medium- (one–two years), and long-term users (> two years) for 2015 to 2019. We applied a binary logistic regression model to investigate the effects of population (gender, age, area of living, language, health insurance plan, and nursing home) and treatment characteristics (psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care) on long-term compared to short- and medium-term users in 2019. Results: In 2021, 9% of the Swiss population ( n = 770,698) received at least one antidepressant prescription, which remained stable since 2013. In 2019, the proportion of long-term users was 57.4%, with steady increase since 2015. The proportion of medium- and short-term users has decreased. Older age, being a woman, living in an urban area, living in a nursing home, being enrolled in a standard care plan, and receiving psychiatric or psychotherapeutic care were factors positively associated with being a long-term user. Conclusion: The proportion of long-term users in Switzerland is high and steadily increasing. Given the ongoing debate about the confounding effects of relapse and withdrawal, more research is needed to investigate longer use of antidepressants that could indicate overprescribing.

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  • Growing long-term use, often over several years, is a significant reason for the world-wide increase in the consumption of antidepressant medications over the last 2-3 decades.

    “Growing long-term use, often over several years, is a significant reason for the world-wide increase in the consumption of antidepressant medications over the last 2–3 decades (Aarts et al., 2014; Amrein et al., 2023; Mars et al., 2017).”

    From Post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) after stopping antidepressants: a systematic review with meta-narrative synthesis (2025) · cites this paper as Amrein et al., 2023

    The Introduction says global antidepressant prescriptions have risen and that recent literature attributes higher prescription numbers mainly to more long-term users. The Discussion reports Swiss long-term prescription durations of two to nine years. The paper does not establish that long-term use drove the worldwide increase in antidepressant consumption specifically over the last 2–3 decades. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Amrein, M. A., Hengartner, M. P., Näpflin, M., Farcher, R., & Huber, C. A.
Affiliations
  • Helsana Group (Switzerland) (CH)
  • ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Amrein, Melanie A.
ORCID
Venue
European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-09-05
Volume
79
Issue
11
Pages
1505-1513
ISSN
  • 0031-6970 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-1041
DOI
10.1007/s00228-023-03559-4
PMC
PMC10618304
OpenAlex
W4386437906
Cited by
23
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8
FWCI
6.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften digital collection (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ZHAW Digital Collection
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Keywords
antidepressant use, antidepressant prescribing trends, overprescribing, psychiatric nursing, psychotherapeutic care, nursing home residents, health plans
MeSH terms
Adult, Antidepressive Agents, Europe, Female, Humans, Male, Psychotropic Drugs, Switzerland, Prevalence

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