(126) Pharmacoepidemiologic Study on The Use of Psychiatric Medicines in Greece During the Period of 2015-2020

Sunday, August 28, 2022

8:00 AM – 1:45 PM CEST

Location: Hall C

Publication Number: 1171

Presenting Author(s)

Foteini Dermiki-Gkana
– Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of, Department of Medicine Democritus University of Thrace, Peraia , Thessaloniki, Greece

Co-Author(s)

Panagiotis Nikolaos Lalagkas
– Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Greece
Christos Kontogiorgis
– Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Theodoros Constantinides
– Professor, Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Dimitra Hadjipavlou-Litina
– Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy Faculty of Health Sciences, AUTh, Thessaloniki, Greece

Background: The covid-19 pandemic and its psychological impact have been the impetus to conduct research on trends in use of psychiatric drugs in Greece.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the trends in use of prescribed psychiatric active ingredients and especially for the categories of antidepressants (N06A), anxiolytics (N05B) and hypnotics/sedatives (N05C) in the Greek population during the period 2015-2020.

Methods: Sales data of 31 prescribed psychiatric pharmaceutical products were provided by IQVIA HELLAS healthcare database for the study period. These sales data were collected from a representative sample of 2,300 community pharmacies, which constitute 20% of total community pharmacies in Greece. The consumption of these drugs is expressed in "Number of Daily Doses (DDDs) per 1,000 inhabitants per day", for each of the 31 different active ingredients of the formulations.

Results: In our study there was recorded a stedy growth in psychiatric medicines consumption. There was a 44.6% increase in the use of antidepressants (N06A), 17.8% increase in the use of anxiolytics (N05B) and 12.7% decrease in the use of hypnotics /sedatives (N05C), measuring the consumptions between 2015 and 2020. Focusing in 2020 it was noticed the highest annual increase 7.2% and 8.1% in the consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics, respectively, comparing to 2019. The highest average use 42.7 DDDs/1,000 inhabitants/day was recorded for the antidepressants' subcategory of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (N06AB) for the period of 2015-2020. More specifically, the active substance Escitalopram (N06AB10) increased by 80% during the six years. In addition, benzodiazepines (N05BA) as anxiolytics constituted the category with the highest trend in use and showed the highest consumption of 37.3DDDs/1,000 inhabitants/day in 2020. Alprazolam (N05BA12) was by far the most used drug with an average use 16.6 DDDs/1,000 inhabitants/day and recorded the highest annual increase in its use in 2020. Regarding Benzodiazepine related drugs (N05CF) use, there was a downward trend in the study period. However, Zolpidem (N05CF02) was the hypnotic substance with the highest average consumption of 5.5 DDDs / 1,000 inhabitants / day despite the declining trend in its use for the total period of the six years.

Conclusions: There has been an increasing trend during all the examined years in the consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics, whereas there has been a decreasing trend in the use of hypnotics/sedatives in Greece in the period 2015-2020. In particular, the most significant increase of antidepressants and anxiolytics consumption was recorded in 2020, raising the potential impact of Covid-19 pandemic on mental health and wellbeing.