Adolescents and young adults enrolled in commercial health plans initiated medications for anxiety and depression at significantly increased rates during the pandemic, according to research presented at AMCP 2023.

“Social restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic posed a mental health threat to adolescents and young adults,” researchers said. “This, in combination with the fear associated with disease outbreaks, led to increased anxiety and depression symptoms in this age group during the pandemic.”

The retrospective analysis was conducted using administrative claims. Members were aged 12 to 35 years and had medical and prescription coverage through Aetna.

Members were divided into 3 age groups for analysis: ages 12 to 17; 18 to 24; and 25 to 35. Researchers studied dispensing patterns before the pandemic from March 1, 2018, to February 28, 2020, and during the pandemic from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2022.

Before the pandemic, people aged 25 to 35 years had the highest average monthly total first dispensing per 100,000 persons for both antidepressants (mean = 635.8, standard deviation [SD] = 111.2) and anti-anxiety drugs (mean = 407.6, SD = 35.4). 

Meanwhile, people aged 18 to 24 years had mean monthly first dispensings of 526.4 (SD = 106.4) and 218.5 (SD = 26.1) for antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, respectively. Patients aged 12 to 17 years averaged 406.7 (SD = 98.4) first dispensings for antidepressants and 174.3 (SD = 12.8) for anti-anxiety drugs, the findings showed.

Once the pandemic began, all three age groups had increases in initiation rates for both antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, researchers said. 

The average number of antidepressant initiations increased by 13% for those aged 25 to 35 years; 18% for those aged 18 to 24 years; and 15% for those aged 12 to 17 years. For each respective age group, anti-anxiety medication initiations went up by 3%, 10%, and 9%. 

“Larger increases in antidepressant dispensing rates, compared to anti-anxiety medications, suggest that the incidence of depression may be higher than anxiety in this group during the pandemic,” researchers said.

The findings suggest younger adults and adolescents experienced the most significant increases in starting new medications, while members aged 25 to 35 years maintained the highest dispensing rates overall.

“Analysis of mental health diagnoses and mental health utilization, along with race and gender stratification, will be essential to identify the most vulnerable groups following the COVID-19 pandemic,” the investigators concluded.

Reference:
Pigoga J, Harris C, Djibo D, Srikanti A, Bhatia S, McMahill-Walraven C. The effects of COVID-19 on first-time initiation of anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication among US adolescents and young adults enrolled in a large commercial health plan. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(10-a suppl):S1-S137. https://www.jmcp.org/pb-assets/Poster%20Abstract%20Supplements/AMCP2023_PosterAbstractSupplement_0317-1679318682267.pdf