【艾昆纬】加拿大心理健康障碍的药物治疗_8页_1mb

Medication Trends for Mental Health Disorders in Canada (2019-2023)

This IQVIA report analyzes prescription data for mental health disorders from 2019 to 2023 in Canada, focusing on key trends, provincial variations, and implications for healthcare policy.

Introduction

Mental illness affects approximately 20% of Canadians annually, with high economic costs estimated at $79.9 billion in 2021. It indirectly impacts all Canadians, and while various treatments exist, psychotropic medications play a significant role due to service shortages. The 2019-2023 data highlight changes in medication utilization across four therapeutic classes: antidepressants, anxiolytics/hypnotics, antipsychotics, and psychostimulants.

Key Findings

• Overall Growth: Total prescriptions dispensed increased by 14% overall, with antidepressants seeing an 18% rise from 2019 to 2023. Anxiolytics declined by 8%, antipsychotics remained stable, and psychostimulants increased by 56%.
• Provincial Differences: Antidepressants showed the highest prevalence in Atlantic provinces, while British Columbia/Ontario had lower anxiolytic use. Quebec had the highest psychostimulant prevalence at 5%, and Ontario the lowest at 2.7%.
• Trends by Category: Antidepressants remain the most prescribed class; anxiolytics are declining; antipsychotics are stable; and psychostimulants show strong growth, primarily for ADHD.

Limitations

The data exclude prescriptions not dispensed, those from hospitals/prisons, unused medications, and absence of clinical indications, based on anonymized community pharmacy sources.

Recommendations

Health interest groups should systematically review prescription data to support informed decision-making, resource allocation, and monitoring of regional variations, especially where psychotherapeutic drug use is increasing.

Data Source

Data from IQVIA's Health Insights Dashboard, using fully anonymized, prescription-dispensing data representing approximately 80% of prescriptions, with estimation algorithms for completeness.