Prevalence of depression and prescriptions for antidepressants, Bella Coola Valley, 2001

To determine the prevalence of depression-anxiety disorders and the degree to which physicians prescribed antidepressants for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations living in a remote rural community in British Columbia in 2001.

To obtain data for our main outcome measures, we retrospectively reviewed the charts of 2375 patients living in the Bella Coola Valley as of September 2001 and attending the Bella Coola Medical Clinic.

The 2001 prevalence rate of depression-anxiety disorders in the Bella Coola Valley was 7.5% (177/2375). Depression was the most common problem (86%) in these patients. Women had a higher rate of depression-anxiety disorders (10.3%) than did men (4.7%) (P < 0.001). Non-Aboriginal people had a slightly higher rate (8.5%) than did Aboriginal people (6.3%); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Antidepressant medications were commonly prescribed for chronic pain and insomnia. The general pattern of antidepressant medication use in 2001 among both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people living in the Bella Coola Valley was as follows: peak use of antidepressants was in the middle to late years; the rate for women was roughly double the rate for men; and proportionately more Aboriginal people, especially the women, were taking antidepressants.

Depression-anxiety disorder prevalence rates for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations are similar. When using antidepressant medication prescriptions as a community health indicator, health care administrators should be aware that antidepressant medications are commonly prescribed for conditions other than depression-anxiety disorder.