More people with type 2 diabetes are prescribed antidepressants and antipsychotics
Between 2004 and 2021 in Scotland, antidepressant prescribing in people with type 2 diabetes rose from 20.0 to 33.3 per 100 person-years.
The question
Prescribing of antidepressants and antipsychotics has risen in the UK. Nobody had looked at trends in people with type 2 diabetes.
What we did
We analysed a population-based diabetes register in Scotland year by year from 2004 to 2021. The number of people with type 2 diabetes grew from 161,915 to 309,288.
What we found
Antidepressant prescribing rose from 20.0 to 33.3 per 100 person-years, and antipsychotics from 2.8 to 4.7. This held for all drug subtypes except first-generation antipsychotics, which stayed stable. Patterns differed by age, sex and deprivation.
Why it matters
The rise may reflect growing multimorbidity. Next, we need the reasons, and whether it is more new prescriptions or longer use.