Antidepressants

The Factors Influencing Depression Endpoints Research (FINDER) study was a pan-European study, of >3,000 adults about to start antidepressant medication either for their first episode of depression or for a new episode of recurrent depression.¹ The study was conducted to determine the prescribing patterns of antidepressants across 12 European countries, and investigate some of the factors determining drug choice.¹ Of all the antidepressants available, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most widely used – 63.3% of all patients.¹ The second most widely prescribed antidepressants were serotonin–noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) – 13.6% of all patients.¹ It is notable that prescribing patterns varied from country to country: in France, for example, the proportion of SSRI prescriptions were as high as 81.5%; in The Netherlands, SNRI prescriptions were as high as 25.5%.1 In terms of drivers of antidepressant choice, the FINDER study found that patient and physician characteristics influenced drug choice, including a patient’s previous experience with an antidepressant, and the age of the physician.¹

Reference:

1.Bauer M, Monz BU, Montejo AL, et al. Prescribing patterns of antidepressants in Europe: results from the Factors Influencing Depression Endpoints Research (FINDER) study. Eur Psychiatry 2008; 23 (1): 66–73.

2.Sleath B, Shih YCT. Sociological influences on antidepressant prescribing. Soc Sci Med 2003; 56 (6): 1335–1344.

3.Bauer M, Pfennig A, Severus E, et al. World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Guidelines for Biological Treatment of Unipolar Depressive Disorders, Part 1: Update 2013 on the acute and continuation treatment of unipolar depressive disorders. World J Biol Psychiatry 2013; 14 (5): 334–385.

4.Stahl SM. Using neuroscience for naming psychotropic drugs. CNS Spectrums 2016; 21 (3): 219–220.

5.Frazer A, Blier P. A Neuroscience-Based Nomenclature (NbN) for Psychotropic Agents. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2016; 19 (8): 1–2.