Survey of Antidepressant Consumption in a Town in Western of Santa Catarina State, Brazil

Abstract

Depression is a mental disorder that causes disorder in behavior, in affectivity, in humor and in the relation of the individual with their environment. Its symptoms are varied, affecting the individual as a whole. Its treatment can be non-pharmacological (psychotherapy, phototherapy and electroconvulsive therapy), pharmacological or both process. The pharmacological treatment involves the use of antidepressant drugs (ADs), which are divided in four groups according to its mechanism of action: tricyclic antidepressant (TCA), atypical, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The present work aimed at verify the consumption of AD in a municipality in western Santa Catarina from 2001 to 2003, as well as to analyze the consumer’s profile of such medicine referring to sex, age and socioeconomic class. The study was carried out through of the annual balances of 22 pharmaceutical establishments handed to the Sanitary Surveillance Department as required by the Resolution 344 and through a questionnaire to 45 doctors of the municipality, chosen alternatively. As a result, we obtained a consumption of 9,13%, and of it, 70% were TCAs; 21% were SSRIs; 7% were atypical and 2% MAOIs. It was concluded that, there are an excess of consumption, aiming that of 100 inhabitants, nine consume ADs, prevailing the TCAs, that are used to another pathologies, as migraine, neuralgias and chronic pains, and has low cost. Referring to the consumer’s profile, the predominance was of women aged 30 to 44 and pertaining to the middle classes, justifying such result to the fact of women being more exposed to situations of stress, financial difficulty, double work journey and other professional, social and family difficulties.