Abstract
Background. There is little information regarding depression treatment patterns among adults with MS and depression in ambulatory settings at national level in the United States (US). Objectives. The objectives of this study were to identify patterns and predictors of depression treatment in ambulatory settings in US among adults with MS and depression. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted by pooling multiple years (2005–2011) of National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the outpatient department of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data. The final study sample was comprised of ambulatory visits among adults with MS and depression. Dependent variable of this study was pharmacological treatment for depression with or without psychotherapy. Predictors of depression treatment were determined by conducting multivariable logistic regression. Results. Out of all ambulatory visits involving MS diagnosis, 20.59% also involved a depression diagnosis. Depression treatment was observed in 57.25% of the study population. Fluoxetine was the most prescribed individual antidepressant. Age and total number of chronic diseases were significant predictors of depression treatment. Conclusion. Approximately six out of ten ambulatory visits involving MS and depression recorded some form of depression treatment. Future longitudinal studies should examine health outcomes associated with depression treatment in this population.
Highlights
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disabling central nervous system disease, which is estimated to affect nearly 400,000 individuals in the United States (US) and around 2.3 million individuals worldwide [1]
According to the study findings, in 2005–2011 approximately 10.22 million visits involved a diagnosis of MS, representing nearly 0.17% of all ambulatory visits at national level among US adults
Disease modifying drugs were prescribed in 27.11% of the visits involving our study population; some of the most common diagnoses in our study population were hypertension (34.47%), hyperlipidemia (19.03%), arthritis (17.53%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (8.7%), and diabetes (8.14%)
Summary
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disabling central nervous system disease, which is estimated to affect nearly 400,000 individuals in the United States (US) and around 2.3 million individuals worldwide [1]. Antidepressants and psychotherapy have been observed to be effective in the treatment of depressive symptoms among individuals with MS [4, 6]. There is little information regarding depression treatment patterns among adults with MS and depression in ambulatory settings at national level in the United States (US). The objectives of this study were to identify patterns and predictors of depression treatment in ambulatory settings in US among adults with MS and depression. The final study sample was comprised of ambulatory visits among adults with MS and depression. Depression treatment was observed in 57.25% of the study population. Age and total number of chronic diseases were significant predictors of depression treatment. Six out of ten ambulatory visits involving MS and depression recorded some form of depression treatment. Future longitudinal studies should examine health outcomes associated with depression treatment in this population
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