Prevalence and characteristics of antidepressant drug prescriptions in older Italian patients.

ABSTRACTBackground: During last few decades, the proportion of elderly persons prescribed with antidepressants for the treatment of depression and anxiety has increased. The aim of this study was to evaluate prevalence of antidepressant prescription and related factors in elderly in-patients, as well as the consistency between prescription of antidepressants and specific diagnoses requiring these medications.Methods: Thirty-four internal medicine and four geriatric wards in Italy participated in the Registro Politerapie SIMI–REPOSI study during 2008. In all, 1,155 in-patients, 65 years or older, were enrolled. Prevalence of the use of antidepressants was calculated at both admission and dis…