Background: The overdose epidemic in the United States has seen a significant rise in deaths associated with antidepressants in the last two decades. This study examines mortality trends related to antidepressants in adults aged >25 years between 1999 and 2020 across various demographics.
Methods: Analysis of poisoning by anti-depressants-related deaths in the US from the past two decades was conducted using death certificate data from the CDC WONDER database, utilizing the ICD-10 code T43. Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) per 100,000 population were extracted, and trends were analyzed using Joinpoint regression to calculate the Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) with p value for statistical significance. Data were stratified using year, gender, race/ethnicity and geographical regions.
Results: The overall mortality rate associated with antidepressants increased from 1.0 (95% CI: 1.0-1.1) in 1999 to 2.5 (95% CI: 2.4-2.6) in 2020, with an AAPC of 4.38 (95% CI: 4.07 to 4.89, p < 0.01). Overall AAMRs were higher in females (2.1; 95% CI: 2.1-2.1) compared to the males (1.6; 95% CI: 1.6-1.6), with the former sex also experiencing a sharper rise (Women AAPC: 5.03, 95% CI: 4.68 to 5.56, p value < 0.01; Men AAPC: 3.77, 95% CI: 3.27 to 4.47, p value < 0.01). Non-Hispanic (NH) White individuals had the greatest number of deaths (71,013, 85.9%) but the NH American Indian population had the highest overall AAMR (2.5, 95% CI: 2.3-2.7). Region-wise, the Northeast and West regions had the greatest overall AAMRs at 2.1. Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas had comparable trends (Overall AAMR: Metropolitan: 1.9, CI: 1.9-1.9; Nonmetropolitan: 1.9, CI: 1.9-1.9). Among different states, AAMRs ranged from as low as 0.7 (95% CI: 0.7-0.8) in Alabama to 7.4 (95% CI: 7.0-.7) in West Virginia.
Conclusions: The overall mortality rate associated with antidepressants has shown a significant rise, highlighting the severe magnitude of the overdose epidemic and underscoring the need for large-scale public interventions to address the issue.
