Demographic, Clinical, and Functional Factors Associated With Antidepressant Use in the Home Healthcare Elderly

Objectives Determine rates and demographic, clinical, and functional correlates of antidepressants (ADs) in home healthcare patients. Methods Year 2007 cross-sectional National Home Health and Hospice Care Survey (N = 3,226) of patients 65 years or older (mean 80.11, confidence interval [CI] = 79.65–80.57). Results Overall 33.50% used ADs. Among the 6.76% with depression, 70.84% used ADs compared with 29.15% who used ADs without a documented depression diagnosis. In a regression, controlling for depression, blacks used less ADs than whites (odds ratio [OR] = 0.41, CI=0.24–0.70). Younger age (OR = 0.96, CI=0.94–0.98), activities of daily living impairments (OR = 1.15, CI=1.05–1.26), benzodiazepines (OR = 2.63, CI=1.88–3.69), antipsychotics (OR = 2.08, CI=1.29–3.36), and nonpsychotropics (OR = 1.07, CI=1.04–1.10) were related to AD use. Conclusion Among home healthcare patients, more than one-third took ADs including patients without depression. Blacks used fewer ADs than whites. Increased use was associated with younger age, disability, and nonpsychotropics.