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Purpose: Psychotropic medications are commonly used for treating mental disorders; however, there is currently no study on how commonly they are used in China. This study reported the trends in psychotropic medications prescriptions in urban China. Methods: A national population-based study was conducted using the China Health Insurance Research Association database to estimate the period prescription prevalence of 11 major classes of psychotropic medications annually during 2013-2017. The World Health Organization Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification codes were used to identify psychotropic medications. Results: The prescription prevalence of any psychotropic medication increased from 8.110% (8.106-8.114%) in 2013 to 11.362% (11.357-11.366%) in 2017. The prescription prevalence of six classes increased significantly during 2013-2017, including sedatives-hypnotics (from 3.177 to 5.388%), anxiolytics (from 1.436 to 2.200%), antiepileptic drugs (from 1.416 to 2.140%), antipsychotics (from 0.809 to 1.156%), antidepressants (from 0.891 to 1.045%), and psycholeptic polypills (from 0.682 to 0.866%). The prescription prevalence of antidementia drugs increased from 0.069 to 0.122%, and mood stabilizers increased from 0.029 to 0.037%, although not statistically significant. The prescription prevalence of nootropic drugs, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications and drugs used in the treatment of addictive disorders was largely stable. Psychotropic medication prescription increased with age for all classes except for ADHD medications and mood stabilizers. Conclusion: Increasing trends in prescription prevalence were observed for most classes of psychotropic medications in urban China, although the prevalence was still lower than that in most developed countries. Further research is warranted to explore the potential treatment gap between China and most developed countries.
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OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to investigate medication usage patterns, health care resource utilization, and direct medical costs of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in Beijing, People's Republic of China. METHODS: Data were extracted from a random sample of the Beijing Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance database. Patients aged ≥18 years, with ≥1 primary diagnosis of MDD and 12-month continuous enrollment after their first observed MDD diagnosis between 2012 and 2013 were identified. Those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or cancer during the analysis period were excluded. RESULTS: In total 8,484 patients, with a mean age of 57.2 years, were included and 63% were female. The top three commonly observed comorbidities were hypertension (70.9%), anxiety disorder (68.6%), and coronary heart disease (65.1%). Furthermore, 71.4% of patients were treated with antidepressant medications, including 60.5% of patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, followed by noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (9.0%) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (8.3%). The proportions of patients who discontinued their initial antidepressant within the first and second months after the index date were 45.4% and 77.0%, respectively. Concomitant medications were prescribed for 76.8% of patients. Only 0.42% of patients experienced ≥1 MDD-related hospitalization(s) during the 1-year follow-up, and the average annual number of hospitalization was 1.2 for those hospitalized. The mean length of stay was 33.4 days per hospitalization. All patients had ≥1 MDD-related outpatient visit(s). The mean annual number of outpatient visits per patient was 3.1. The mean annual direct medical costs per patient with MDD was RMB ¥1,694.1 (48.5% for antidepressant medications), and that for hospitalized patients was RMB ¥21,291.0 (15.0% for antidepressant medications). CONCLUSION: In Beijing, the majority of patients with MDD were treated in the outpatient setting only and they received antidepressants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the most commonly used antidepressants. However, the duration to antidepressant medication was short, and persistence was low. The economic burden of MDD-related hospitalization was considerable.