Northern Ireland has one of the world’s highest prescription rates for antidepressant medicines, according to new research, but fresh questions have emerged over what may be driving the trend.
The analysis, carried out for Belfast-based investigative news website the Detail, examined 36 million prescription records from across the UK, including 3.5 million prescriptions written by GPs in the North. It is the first time such prescription records have been released and the raw data provided the basis for an international comparison to be carried out.
However, the research findings have questioned the conventional view that poverty and the legacy of the Troubles fully explain the high levels, prompting questions about the health service in the North and its prescription drug use.
The Detail’s project, entitled The Script Report, found: Antidepressant prescription rates in the North far exceeded those of England and Wales, and were also higher than levels found in 23 countries featured in a global study. In the six-month period examined, GPs in the North prescribed enough antidepressants to give every man, woman and child a 27-day supply at the “defined daily dosage” limits. In England, GPs prescribed enough for 10 daily doses per patient. The figure in Wales was 19.
The North’s prescription levels are higher than other UK regions with a similar economic profile, or similar or higher rate of depression. Doctors interviewed for The Script Report pointed to a problem among age groups too young to have directly experienced the Troubles. And, in addition to the findings on antidepressants, the report studied rates for more than 50 drugs that also included sedatives, painkillers and anti-anxiety medicines. In more than 40 of the drugs, Northern Ireland prescription rates exceed those of England.
Source: Steven McCaffery, Irish Times, 17/11/14
Safer Student Nights
eBulletin
Poll
