Patients' perceptions and illness severity at start of antidepressant treatment in general practice

Objectives Patients' perceptions are important to consider when trying to understand why patients often do not follow prescriptions for antidepressant treatment. This study aimed to investigate the influence of patients' perceptions and illness severity at the start on antidepressant‐medication‐taking behaviour. Methods Eighteen community pharmacies in the Netherlands participated in this 6‐month follow‐up study. One hundred and ten patients presenting a first antidepressant prescription, prescribed by a general practitioner (GP), were included. A questionnaire was completed at inclusion, after 6 and 26 weeks. Key findings Of all 110 patients, eight (7.3%) did not initiate drug taking, 32 (29.1%) discontinued use, six (5.5%) switched to different antidepressant medication, and 64 (58.2%) continued on the same antidepressant during follow‐up. Compared to continuers, non‐initiators had lower belief scores for impact of illness (P = 0.044), perceived norm GP (P