Continuing versus New Antidepressant Use in Older Adults: US Prescribing Trends from 2006 to 2015.

Objective: Antidepressant use has increased in older adults recently. This study examines the trends of antidepressant prescribing by prescription status (continuing vs. new prescriptions).

Methods: Data were collected from 2006-2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), a nationally representative sample of office-based outpatient visits. I limited the sample to adults aged 65 or older (n=10,708 unweighted). Using a repeated cross-sectional design with survey sampling techniques, prevalence rates of antidepressant prescriptions were estimated by prescription status. Stratified analyses were also performed by key variables (e.g., age, gender, and race/ethnicity).

Results: Continuing antidepressant prescriptions increased over time significantly (OR=1.07; 95% CI, 1.03-1.11), and no temporal trend was found in new antidepressant prescriptions. In stratified analyses, the increasing trends of continuing antidepressant prescriptions were pronounced in visits to primary care physicians (OR=1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.12).

Conclusions: Increasing antidepressant prescribing trends were found in continuing prescriptions. Continued antidepressant prescribing among older adults should be monitored for appropriate use.