Why do general practitioners prescribe antidepressants to their patients? A pilot study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The frequency of antidepressant (ADs) prescription is high, with general practitioners (GPs) responsible for about 80% of the prescriptions. Some studies considered prescriptions meet DSM criteria, while others stress inadequate use. The importance of biological and psychosocial determinants of GP prescription behaviour remains little explored. We aimed to describe the importance of these biological and psychosocial determinants and their weight in the daily practice of GPs'. METHODS: During a week chosen at random, 28 GPs collected the AD prescriptions made within the previous six months, regardless of the reason for the patient contact. Bio psychosocial and AD treatment characteristics were recorded for all patients. In a random sample of 50 patients, patient characteristics were assessed via a structured face-to-face interview with the GP. RESULTS: The frequency of AD prescription was 8.90% [3.94 -17.02]. The GPs initiated 65.6% [60.1-70.8] of the prescriptions. The rate of AD prescription for non-psychiatric conditions was 18%. Patients had from 1 to 9 conditions, showing a high level of multi-morbidity. There was a strong influence of past medical history and contextual problems, such as work related problems. CONCLUSION: AD prescription is related to complex contextual situations and multi-morbid patients. GPs use a bio psycho social approach, rather than a purely biological assessment. Awareness of these influences could improve prescription by GPs.
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- Authors
- Mercier, A., Auger-Aubin, I., Lebeau, J.-P., Schuers, M., Boulet, P., Van Royen, P., & Peremans, L.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Université de Tours (FR)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Mercier, Alain
- Venue
- BioPsychoSocial Medicine
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17
- ISSN
- 1751-0759 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4126991
- OpenAlex
- W2141823974
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 2.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- BioPsychoSocial Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Keywords
- antidepressant prescribing, general practitioners, prescription behavior, psychosocial factors, biological determinants, multimorbidity, work-related problems, medical history, biopsychosocial model
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