Prevalence, incidence, morbidity and treatment patterns in a cohort of patients diagnosed with anxiety in UK primary care

Background. Anxiety disorders are common and can cause substantial quality of life impairment. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of anxiety in UK primary care. Treatment patterns and factors associated with an anxiety diagnosis were also assessed. Methods. The Health...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family practice 2010-02, Vol.27 (1), p.9-16
Main Authors: Martín-Merino, Elisa, Ruigómez, Ana, Wallander, Mari-Ann, Johansson, Saga, García-Rodríguez, Luis Alberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Antidepressant drugs
Anxiety - drug therapy
Anxiety - epidemiology
Anxiety - physiopathology
Anxiety disorders
Anxiety-Depression
Child
Cohort Studies
Databases, Factual
Diagnosis
epidemiology
Female
Health care
Humans
Incidence
Male
MEDICIN
MEDICINE
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Primary Health Care
United Kingdom - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Background. Anxiety disorders are common and can cause substantial quality of life impairment. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of anxiety in UK primary care. Treatment patterns and factors associated with an anxiety diagnosis were also assessed. Methods. The Health Improvement Network was used to identify all patients aged 10–79 years with a new diagnosis of anxiety in 2002–04 (n = 40 873) and age-, sex- and calendar-year-matched controls (n = 50 000). A nested case–control analysis was used to quantify potential risk factors for anxiety by multivariate logistic regression. Results. The prevalence of anxiety was 7.2% and the incidence was 9.7 per 1000 person-years. Incidence and prevalence were highest in women and young adults (20–29 years). Anxiety was associated with heavy alcohol use, smoking and addiction problems as well as stress, sleep and depression disorders. Anxiety patients used health care services more frequently than controls. Among patients diagnosed with anxiety, 63% were treated pharmacologically. Antidepressants accounted for almost 80% of prescriptions. Conclusions. The prevalence and incidence of anxiety are high in UK primary care and are almost twice as high in women than in men. Anxiety is associated with other psychiatric morbidity as well as frequent health care use. Antidepressants are the most commonly used pharmacological treatment.
ISSN:0263-2136
1460-2229
1460-2229
DOI:10.1093/fampra/cmp071