Relationship between antidepressant and anxiolytic/hypnotic prescribing: a mixed-methods study.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Antidepressant prescribing has dramatically increased in Scotland, and the cause is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate if the increase in antidepressant prescribing coincided with a reduction in prescribing of anxiolytics and hypnotics; to investigate this relationship at practice level; and to explore whether general practitioners (GPs) explain the increase by their increased use for anxiety. METHODS: STUDY DESIGN: analysis of routine prescribing data and interviews with GPs. SETTING: Scottish general practices. PARTICIPANTS: 942 practices included in the analysis. Sixty-three GPs in 30 practices completed interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Quantity of antidepressants, anxiolyt..