The objective is to describe antidepressants prescribed at baseline and associated physician and patient characteristics.

Physicians in 12 European countries collected data on the medication history of the patient -antidepressants, analgesics, psychotherapy- for the 24 months prior to joining the study. Information on the daily dose and start and stop dates for antidepressants and reasons for discontinuation was recorded. Data were also collected on the antidepressant being prescribed at baseline and the daily dose recommended. Descriptive baseline data and statistical associations between variables were examined to evaluate key factors influencing the choice of treatment.

Out of 3468 eligible patients for analysis, 38.2% had taken an antidepressant in the previous 24 months. At baseline, patient characteristics were very similar between groups prescribed SSRI, SNRI, TCA, other drugs and combination treatments although TCA and Combination groups showed a somewhat different profile. Indeed, patients with a higher HADS depression score were more likely to receive a combination of antidepressants (Combination-13.4[5.0] vs. SSRI-12.4[4.4]; TCA-12.3[4.5]; SNRI-12.1[4.6] and Other-12.2[4.5]). At baseline, 63.3% of patients were prescribed an SSRI, 9.2% a TCA, 13.6% an SNRI, 9.3% Other and 4.6% a Combination of antidepressants. Mean (SD) doses (mg) for the five most prescribed antidepressants were: fluoxetine (20.7[7.5]), citalopram (20.9[7.9]), escitalopram (11.2[4.5]), venlafaxine (95.6[44.3]), paroxetine (21.5[7.1]).

Analysis of treatment selection considering investigator and patient characteristics will provide more insight of factors influencing antidepressant choice for individual patients. Findings will be discussed in light of contextual differences in various countries and other work in the area.