Dataset Information

Increase in the prescription rate of antidepressants after the Sewol Ferry disaster in Ansan, South Korea.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous pharmaco-epidemiological studies have reported increases in the prescription of psychotropic medications after a disaster, reflecting post-disaster changes in psychiatric conditions and mental health service utilization. We investigated changes in the prescription of psychotropic medications in the Danwon district of Ansan city (Ansan Danwon) compared to a control community before and after the Sewol Ferry disaster on April 16, 2014.

Methods

Data was collected from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. We analyzed the prescription rates of psychotropic medications including antidepressants, anxiolytics, and sedatives/hypnotics, and investigated whether the time-series pattern of monthly prescriptions per 100,000 people was different in Ansan Danwon compared to that in Cheonan city after the Sewol Ferry disaster through difference-in-differences regression analysis.

Results

Ansan Danwon showed a significantly greater increase (5.6%) in the prescription rate of antidepressants compared to Cheonan city following the Sewol Ferry disaster. There were no significant differences in changes in the prescription rates of anxiolytics or sedatives/hypnotics. In the secondary analysis, a significantly greater increase in the prescription rate of antipsychotics was observed in Ansan Danwon compared to a control community after the disaster.

Limitations

We could not exclude the possibility that other events influenced changes in the prescription rates of psychotropic medications during the study period.

Conclusions

Pharmaco-epidemiological studies on psychotropic medication prescription after a disaster provide important information about population-level mental health. Our results suggest that the Sewol Ferry disaster exerted a harmful effect on the mental health status of the affected community.

SUBMITTER: Han KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7112638 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Increase in the prescription rate of antidepressants after the Sewol Ferry disaster in Ansan, South Korea.

Han Kyu-Man KM Kim Kyoung-Hoon KH Lee Mikyung M Lee Sang-Min SM Ko Young-Hoon YH Paik Jong-Woo JW

Journal of affective disorders 20170510

<h4>Background</h4>Previous pharmaco-epidemiological studies have reported increases in the prescription of psychotropic medications after a disaster, reflecting post-disaster changes in psychiatric conditions and mental health service utilization. We investigated changes in the prescription of psychotropic medications in the Danwon district of Ansan city (Ansan Danwon) compared to a control community before and after the Sewol Ferry disaster on April 16, 2014.<h4>Methods</h4>Data was collected ...[more]

PMID: 28505500

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Project description:Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs can be both beneficial and harmful to healthcare consumers. Therefore, DTCA for prescription drugs is a topic that should be considered crucially, at this point, when the interests of patients as well as pharmaceutical companies in DTCA of prescription drugs are growing in South Korea. The goals of this study were to investigate Korean college students' perceptions and attitudes about DTCA of prescription drugs through a survey as well as to analyze data according to their college majors in order to identify differences in their perceptions and attitudes about prescription drug DTCAs as future health care professionals and consumers, respectively. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted between September and November 2015. Participants were recruited from Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Chosun University Institutional Review Board. Of 1,040 questionnaires initially distributed, 774 were collected, and 742 were included in the analysis. The results of this study indicated that most students who had participated in the survey did not have sufficient knowledge of DTCA for prescription drugs. Approximately, 17% reported being cognizant of DTCA for prescription drugs. More healthcare students (24.6%) knew this term than non-healthcare students did (6.3%). In this study, most of the students were likely to feel that healthcare professionals (e.g., doctors and pharmacists) had the responsibility of delivering information about prescription drugs to patients, and that all prescription drugs DTCA, if it were permitted, had to be pre-approved by the Korean government. The results of this study indicated that DTCA for prescription drugs had to be permitted under the condition of pre-approval of the DTCA contents by the Korean government, and prescription drugs should not be advertised through the Internet. It is recommended that the Korean government cautiously examine whether DTCA of prescription drugs should be permitted, after considering the current marketing strategies of pharmaceutical companies on the Internet and the effects of online electronic-DTCA on Korean consumers.

Dataset Information

Increase in the prescription rate of antidepressants after the Sewol Ferry disaster in Ansan, South Korea.

Background

Methods

Results

Limitations

Conclusions

Publications

Increase in the prescription rate of antidepressants after the Sewol Ferry disaster in Ansan, South Korea.

Similar Datasets

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