Over the past decade, commonly prescribed drugs such as antidepressants, lithium and opioids have dramatically increased. Antidepressants are used to mainly treat depression, but are also have been used to treat anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorders, bulimia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depressive symptoms, pain management, migraines and insomnia. Lithium, a type of anti-psychotic drug, is used to treat manic depression, with some use to treat mood disorders. Opioids are a type of drug used to manage pain in a variety of conditions are now increasingly being prescribed. In this study, we plan to simply describe the trends in prescribing of these three common classes of drugs (antidepressants, opioids and lithium) over an 18-year period, grouped by gender and age. This project is part of a larger study called the GOMAP consortium, a study on the global trends in prescribing in approximately 20 countries. This will help inform policy-makers and health care authorities into understanding how often these drugs are being prescribed, whether there are any differences between countries, and what is the likely trend going forward.
Recent published studies have shown increasing trends in antidepressant, opioids and lithium prescribing, due to the drugs now being used for an increasing number of potential indications. Using electronic health records provided by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we will estimate medication prevalence and incidence using data from all patients whose records indicates at least one antidepressant/opioids/lithium prescription from the1st January 2001 to 31st December 2018. The annual prevalence of medication prescribing will be calculated by dividing the total number of individuals prescribed with at least one medication per calendar year by the mid-year total population covered in CPRD. The prevalence will be expressed as a percentage per 100 individuals. The annual incidence of medication prescribing will be calculate by dividing the total number of individuals newly prescribed with at least one of the three medications per calendar year by the mid-year total population that without any prescriptions in that particular year. Each medication will be analysed separately. The incidence will be expressed as a percentage per 100 individuals. Age will be defined by mid-year age and data will be aggregated into one-year age bands.
Prevalence and incidence of antidepressants use
Prevalence and incidence of opioids use
Prevalence and incidence of lithium use
Stephen Weng - Chief Investigator - University of Nottingham
Stephen Weng - Corresponding Applicant - University of Nottingham
- Collaborator -
Adrienne Chan - Collaborator - University of Hong Kong
Barbara Iyen - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Ian Wong - Collaborator - University College London ( UCL )
Joe Kai - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Kenneth Man - Collaborator - University College London ( UCL )
Nadeem Qureshi - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Yana Vinogradova - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Patient Level Index of Multiple Deprivation