ABSTRACT
Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of antidepressant use in Brazil. Methods: We conducted a systematic review with searches in MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, LILACS, and SciELO up to May 2023. Two researchers independently selected studies, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality. We pooled the prevalence of antidepressant use using meta-analyses of proportions (Freeman-Tukey transformation) and estimated heterogeneity by the I2 statistic. OR meta-analyses of antidepressant use by sex were calculated (men as reference) and between-study variation was explored by meta-regressions. Results: Out of 3,299 records retrieved, 23 studies published in 28 reports were included, with a total of 75,061 participants. The overall prevalence of antidepressant use was 4.0% (95%CI 2.7-5.6%; I2 = 98.5%). Use of antidepressants in the previous 3 days was higher in women (12.0%; 95%CI 9.5-15.1%; I2 = 0%) than men (4.6%; 95%CI 3.1-6.8%; I2 = 0%) (p < 0.001; OR = 2.82; 95%CI 1.72-4.62). Gender differences were particularly higher for antidepressant use in the previous year (women: 2.3%; 95%CI 1.6-3.1; I2 = 37.6% vs. men: 0.5%; 95%CI 0.2-1.0%; I2 = 0%, p < 0.001; OR = 4.18; 95%CI 2.10-8.30). Between-study variation in the overall prevalence of antidepressant use significantly increased with mean participant age (p = 0.035; residual I2 = 0%; regression coefficient = 0.003). Conclusion: Four out of every 100 Brazilians used antidepressants in this 3-decade assessment. Use increased with age and was more prevalent in women compared to men. Registration number: PROSPERO CRD42022345332.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of antidepressant use in Brazil. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review with searches in MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, LILACS, and SciELO up to May 2023. Two researchers independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality. We combined the prevalence of antidepressant use using meta-analyses of proportions by Freeman-Tukey and estimated heterogeneity by I². Odds ratio (OR) meta-analyses of antidepressant use by sex were calculated (men as reference) and between-study variation was explored by meta-regressions. RESULTS: Out of 3,299 records, 23 studies published in 28 reports were included. The overall prevalence of antidepressant use was 4.0% (95%CI 2.7-5.6%; I2=98.5%). Use of antidepressants in the previous 3 days was higher in women (12.0%; 95%CI 9.5-15.1%; I2=0.0%) than men (4.6%; 95%CI 3.1-6.8%; I2=0.0%), p<0.001; OR=2.82; 95%CI 1.72-4.62. Gender differences were particularly higher for antidepressant use in the previous year (women: 2.3%; 95%CI 1.6-3.1; I2=37.6% versus men: 0.5%; 95%CI 0.2-1.0%; I2=0.0%, p<0.001; OR=4.18; 95%CI 2.10-8.30). Between-study variation in the overall prevalence of antidepressant use significantly increased with participants' mean age (p=0.035; residual I²=0.0%; regression coefficient=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Four in every 100 Brazilians use antidepressants; use increased with age and was higher in women compared to men.
ABSTRACT
The use of medicines can be an indicator of healthcare access. Our aim was to evaluate the consumption of medicine and associated factors among adults in Manaus Metropolitan Region, located in the north of Brazil. A cross-sectional population-based study was conducted with adults, ≥18 years old, selected by probabilistic sampling. The outcome was the use of medicine in the previous 15 days. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) of medicine consumption, with 95% confidence interval (CI). Use of medicines was reported by 29% (95% CI: 28-31%) of the participants. People with good (PR: 0.82, 95% CI: 0.72-0.94) and fair (PR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.90) health status were shown to use less medication than those with very good health. People with partners (PR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.08-1.31), and people who had sought healthcare service in the fortnight (PR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.97-2.37) showed higher medicine consumption. Medical prescription (80.1%) was the main inductor of consumption; purchasing at a drug store (46.4%), and acquiring through the Brazilian Unified Health System (39.6%) were the main ways to obtain medicines. About one-third of adults in the Metropolitan Region of Manaus used medicines regularly, mainly people with very good health, living with partners, and with recent use of a health service.
