Date created: | Last Updated:

Category: Project

Description: Three separate surveys were conducted to investigate the use of antidepressants in Brazil: a population-based cross-sectional study with adults living in Manaus, a systematic review with meta-analysis of studies on the use of antidepressant drugs in Brazil, and a time series of sales data of antidepressants in Brazil between 2014 and 2020. In the cross-sectional study, participants were selected by probabilistic sampling in three stages and interviewed in their homes in 2015 and 2019. The consumption of medications in the last 15 days was measured and antidepressants were identified based on the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System of the World Health Organization. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to assess the prevalence ratios of antidepressant use. The systematic review was prepared from searches in bibliographic databases, with no date or language limit. The selection of studies, data extraction and quality assessment of primary research were carried out by two independent researchers. The prevalence of antidepressant use reported in individual studies were pooled by meta-analysis. The trends of antidepressant consumption in Brazil from 2014 to 2020 were investigated through the analysis of data from the National Controlled Products Management System, which contains data on sales of medicines subject to special control. The consumption of antidepressants was obtained and converted into a defined daily dose (DDD) to calculate the DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per municipality, according to population estimates for each year.