Rise in antidepressant prescriptions rates in England: get the data

A new study claims that England's increasing use of antidepressants has accelerated since the financial crash in 2008. Find prescription rates over time and by PCT

40m prescriptions for antidepressants were issued in 2012 by PCTs in England. Photograph: travel-and-more/Alamy

The amount of antidepressants dispensed annually in England rose by 25m between 1998 and 2012– from 15m items in 1998, to 40m in 2012 - according to a new study which claims that England’s increasing use of antidepressants has accelerated since the financial crash in 2008.

Published as part of the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation’s QualityWatch programme, the research shows that almost half of the increase between 1998 and 2012 occurred in the four years between the 2008 financial crisis and 2012 (the last year for which data is available). Meaning the annual rise in prescriptions has risen to 8.5% per year since the banking crash, compared to 6.7% before.

The release notes:

This striking increase is despite the incidence of depression having risen much more slowly over the same time period, meaning that either antidepressants were heavily under-prescribed in 1998, or they are heavily overprescribed now.

Some GP practices also prescribed far more antidepressant medicine than others even where their patients were similar - suggesting over-use or under-use in many parts of England.

Researchers also found that even when regional characteristics are taken into account, large geographical variations in the rate of prescribing exist - echoing research carried out in 2011 by the Guardian which revealed a north-south divide in the prescription of antidepressants.

This latest report - examining the number of tablets dispensed on NHS prescriptions across the country - shows that between October and December 2012/13, rates varied from 71 items per 1,000 people in NHS Brent, to 331 items per 1,000 people in NHS Blackpool.

They also found that generally, there were higher rates of prescribing in the north-east and lower levels in London. The map below shows antidepressant prescription rates per 1,000 people by primary care trusts (PCTs) in England.

Other key findings from the report are:

Areas with more white people, more women, and more people over the age of 65, had the heaviest use of antidepressants
Areas with more men and more people from ethnic minorities, had significantly lighter use
GPs who prescribe more antibiotics also tend to prescribe more antidepressants, suggesting doctors vary across the board in how likely they are to use drugs to deal with their patients’ conditions.
An analysis of changes over time found that increases in unemployment were associated with significant increases in the number of anti-depressant tablets dispensed. A 1% rise in unemployment typically meant one and a half more tablets were given out per person on a GP list, per year

The table below shows figures obtained from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) by the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation. They show the number of antidepressant drugs prescribed by PCTs in England. The downloadable spreadsheet also has data on the trend in prescribing of antidepressants in England.