Mental health and antidepressant use: frequency and pharmacovigilance

• Grant number: 22/16671-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy
• Principal Investigator: Tais Freire Galvao
• Grantee: Vanessa Gomes Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mental health and its treatment are influenced by the contexto; in its turn, pharmacotherapy brings consequences that need to be monitored. This project aims to investigate the influence of social factors on mental health and antidepressant consumption and to assess the safety of these products. The research will be structured in three main methodological approaches: (i) analysis of population-based surveys, ( ii ) trends in the usage of antidepressants and unemployment, and ( iii ) pharmacovigilance of antidepressants, in an international and national context. The analysis of the surveys will be based on a panel of two population-based cross-sectional studies carried out in Manaus, in 2015 and 2019, with adults selected by probabilistic sampling in three stages. Based on validated instruments, the prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of severe anxiety and depression will be measured, as well as changes in prevalence in this interval, which covers a period of economic recession. In the second analysis, we will develop an ecological study based on antidepressant sales records in the Brazilian National Controlled Products Management System from 2014-2021 and its comparison with geographically aggregated unemployment rates in each period. The pharmacovigilance of movement disorders by antidepressants will be investigated through a case/non-case study to be developed in partnership with the Pharmacovigilance Unit of the University of Porto, Portugal. From this internship abroad, another disproportionality analysis will be carried out in the Brazilian context. Results will be statistically analyzed and interpreted for the manuscript publication. (AU)