Observational studyPharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2025
Increasing Prevalence of Long-Term Antidepressant Use in Australia: A Retrospective Observational Study.
Observational study in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trial
- Stopping antidepressants: when and how.Australian prescriber · 2026Review
- Increasing Prevalence of Long-Term Antidepressant Use in Australia: A Retrospective Observational Study.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLong-term antidepressant use may reduce the risk-benefit profile due to the increased likelihood of withdrawal symptoms and higher incidence of side effects. This epidemiological study investigates historical trends in long-term antidepressant use, which was defined as maintaining continuous antidepressant use for at least 365 days, allowing for gaps in dispensing of up to 60 days in the Australian community from 2014 to 2023.
methodA retrospective analysis was conducted using a 10% sample of data from the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), including patients aged over 10 years who had been dispensed a PBS-listed antidepressant between January 2014 and December 2023.
resultsFrom 2014 to 2023, the prevalence of long-term antidepressant use increased from 66.1 to 84.6 per 1000 population. Age-stratified analysis showed that the 10-24 age group had the highest relative increase in long-term user prevalence (110%) and in the proportion of long-term users (35%). The average duration of the treatment episode increased by 25% across all ages, with the 10-24 group showing the largest rise (56%). The percentage of long-term users with apparent dose reductions showed minimal change over time.
conclusionsThe study highlights a growing trend in long-term antidepressant use across all age groups, particularly among those aged 10-24, warranting further investigation into the underlying factors. The extended treatment duration, coupled with limited medicine apparent dose reduction efforts, may suggest overprescription and underuse of deprescribing strategies. A more comprehensive mental health approach is needed, integrating effective deprescribing practices and emerging technological interventions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.