Are Antidepressants Overprescribed for Mild-to-Moderate Depression?

Not in large healthcare systems

Concerns about overprescription of antidepressants have been based on high rates of use in patients who retrospectively self-reported that they did not meet diagnostic criteria for major depression. Yet, some of these patients might not have remembered the severity of their depression, which might have been successfully treated with antidepressants. Now, researchers prospectively examine clinician-rated depression on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in 7051 adults beginning antidepressant treatment in four large healthcare systems.

On the PHQ-9 at baseline, 85% of participants had moderate or severe symptoms (PHQ-9 score, ≥10), and 15% had either minimal symptoms (PHQ-9 score, ≤4) or mild ones (PHQ-9 score, 5–9). In analysis b…

Reviewing Author

Peter Roy-Byrne, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Peter Roy-Byrne, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Are Antidepressants Overprescribed for Mild-to-Moderate Depression?

Topics

Reviewing Author