Long-term use of antidepressants did not improve physical or mental health in patients with depression, according to a news study published in the journal. PLUS ONE.
Among people with depression, those using antidepressants did not have a better long-term quality of life.
Over time, antidepressant use is not associated with significantly better health-related quality of life, compared with people with depression who do not take the medications. These are the findings of a new study published on April 20, 2022 in the open access journal PLUS ONE by Omar Almohammed of King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, and colleagues.
It is widely recognized that depressive illness has a great impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. Although studies have shown the usefulness of antidepressant medications in the treatment of depressive disorder, the effect of these medications on the general well-being and HRQoL of patients remains debatable.
In the new study, the researchers used data from the 2005-2015 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a large longitudinal study tracking the health services Americans use. Any person with a diagnosis of depressive disorder was identified in the MEPS files. Over the course of the study, 17.47 million adult patients were diagnosed with depression on average each year, with two years of follow-up, and 57.6% of these were treated with antidepressant medications.
Antidepressant use was associated with some improvement in the mental component of the SF-12, the survey that tracks health-related quality of life. However, when this positive change was compared to the change in the group of people who were diagnosed with a depressive disorder but who did not take antidepressants, there was no statistically significant association of antidepressants with physical status (p=0.9595) or mental (p=0.6405). ) component of the SF-12. In other words, the change in quality of life seen among those taking antidepressants for two years was not significantly different from that seen among those not taking the drugs.
The study was unable to separately analyze any variable subtype or severity of depression. The authors say that future studies should investigate the use of non-pharmacological depression interventions used in combination with antidepressants.
The authors add: “Although we still need our depressed patients to continue using their antidepressant medications, long-term studies evaluating the real impact of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on the quality of life of these patients are needed. That said, the role of cognitive and behavioral interventions in the long-term management of depression needs to be further evaluated in an effort to improve the ultimate goal of care for these patients; improving their overall quality of life.
Reference: “Antidepressants and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) for Patients with Depression: Analysis of the United States Medical Expenditure Panel Survey” by Omar A. Almohammed, Abdulaziz A. Alsalem, Abdullah A. Almangour, Lama H. Alotaibi, Majed S. Al Yami, and Leanne Lai, April 20, 2022, PLUS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265928
Funding: Omar A. Almohammed received funding from Researcher Support Project number (RSP-2021/77), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to support the publication of this article. The funding agency was not involved in designing the study, performing the analysis, interpreting the data, or writing the manuscript.
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