BACKGROUND: The new antidepressants are generally effective and safe for older people, but may have serious side-effects. The use has been rapidly increasing, but focus on upper age groups has been limited. The pattern of antidepressant use as death approaches has never been analysed. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the use of antidepressants among individuals aged 65 years and above with respect to time trends, age and proximity to death. DESIGN: Population-based prescription study. SETTING: The County of Funen, Denmark, 1992-2004 (approximately 470,000 inhabitants). RESULTS: The 1-year prevalence of antidepressants increases steadily over time in all age groups. Among the 65+ year-olds it also increases with age and differs substantially between the youngest and the oldest. Very high prevalences are observed: 26.8% among females 85-89 years old and 17.5% among males 85 years and above in 2004. In all age groups the use of antidepressants increases substantially with proximity to death in the last 3 years of life. In the last phase of life the use is independent of whether the patient dies at age 65 or 90 about 33% of females and 25% of males receive antidepressants in the last 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The use of antidepressants among 65+ year-olds increases with age and proximity to death to very high levels. Future studies may clarify the problems and diagnoses giving rise to the use of antidepressants for such a large proportion of older people, and especially the problems giving rise to treatment as death approaches.
BACKGROUND: The new antidepressants are generally effective and safe for older people, but may have serious side-effects. The use has been rapidly increasing, but focus on upper age groups has been limited. The pattern of antidepressant use as death approaches has never been analysed. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the use of antidepressants among individuals aged 65 years and above with respect to time trends, age and proximity to death. DESIGN: Population-based prescription study. SETTING: The County of Funen, Denmark, 1992-2004 (approximately 470,000 inhabitants). RESULTS: The 1-year prevalence of antidepressants increases steadily over time in all age groups. Among the 65+ year-olds it also increases with age and differs substantially between the youngest and the oldest. Very high prevalences are observed: 26.8% among females 85-89 years old and 17.5% among males 85 years and above in 2004. In all age groups the use of antidepressants increases substantially with proximity to death in the last 3 years of life. In the last phase of life the use is independent of whether the patient dies at age 65 or 90 about 33% of females and 25% of males receive antidepressants in the last 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: The use of antidepressants among 65+ year-olds increases with age and proximity to death to very high levels. Future studies may clarify the problems and diagnoses giving rise to the use of antidepressants for such a large proportion of older people, and especially the problems giving rise to treatment as death approaches.
Authors: C Moura; S Bernatsky; M Abrahamowicz; A Papaioannou; L Bessette; J Adachi; D Goltzman; J Prior; N Kreiger; T Towheed; W D Leslie; S Kaiser; G Ioannidis; L Pickard; L-A Fraser; E Rahme Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2014-02-25 Impact factor: 4.507
Authors: Raymond Noordam; Nikkie Aarts; Katia M Verhamme; Miriam C M Sturkenboom; Bruno H Stricker; Loes E Visser Journal: Eur J Clin Pharmacol Date: 2015-01-06 Impact factor: 2.953
Authors: Jean-Pierre Schuster; Marie-Pierre F Strippoli; Nicolas Hoertel; Pedro Marques-Vidal; Caroline L Vandeleur; Frédéric Limosin; Martin Preisig; Armin von Gunten Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2021-11-29 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Raymond Noordam; Colleen M Sitlani; Christy L Avery; James D Stewart; Stephanie M Gogarten; Kerri L Wiggins; Stella Trompet; Helen R Warren; Fangui Sun; Daniel S Evans; Xiaohui Li; Jin Li; Albert V Smith; Joshua C Bis; Jennifer A Brody; Evan L Busch; Mark J Caulfield; Yii-Der I Chen; Steven R Cummings; L Adrienne Cupples; Qing Duan; Oscar H Franco; Rául Méndez-Giráldez; Tamara B Harris; Susan R Heckbert; Diana van Heemst; Albert Hofman; James S Floyd; Jan A Kors; Lenore J Launer; Yun Li; Ruifang Li-Gao; Leslie A Lange; Henry J Lin; Renée de Mutsert; Melanie D Napier; Christopher Newton-Cheh; Neil Poulter; Alexander P Reiner; Kenneth M Rice; Jeffrey Roach; Carlos J Rodriguez; Frits R Rosendaal; Naveed Sattar; Peter Sever; Amanda A Seyerle; P Eline Slagboom; Elsayed Z Soliman; Nona Sotoodehnia; David J Stott; Til Stürmer; Kent D Taylor; Timothy A Thornton; André G Uitterlinden; Kirk C Wilhelmsen; James G Wilson; Vilmundur Gudnason; J Wouter Jukema; Cathy C Laurie; Yongmei Liu; Dennis O Mook-Kanamori; Patricia B Munroe; Jerome I Rotter; Ramachandran S Vasan; Bruce M Psaty; Bruno H Stricker; Eric A Whitsel Journal: J Med Genet Date: 2016-12-30 Impact factor: 6.318
Authors: V Abbing-Karahagopian; C Huerta; P C Souverein; F de Abajo; H G M Leufkens; J Slattery; Y Alvarez; M Miret; M Gil; B Oliva; U Hesse; G Requena; F de Vries; M Rottenkolber; S Schmiedl; R Reynolds; R G Schlienger; M C H de Groot; O H Klungel; T P van Staa; L van Dijk; A C G Egberts; H Gardarsdottir; M L De Bruin Journal: Eur J Clin Pharmacol Date: 2014-05-03 Impact factor: 2.953
Authors: Louise Sjørslev Frandsen; Line Bilgrav Villumsen; Cathrine Fonnesbech Hjorth; Berit Jamie Nielsen; Line Rosenkilde Ullits; Christian Torp-Pedersen; Henrik Bøggild; Charlotte Overgaard Journal: BMC Psychiatry Date: 2016-06-07 Impact factor: 3.630