Canadian seniors living in long-term care 3 times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than seniors living in the community

Over the past 5 years, seniors (age 65 and older) living in long-term care (LTC) facilities across Canada were 3 times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than seniors living in the community, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). 

During the pandemic, the growth in prescriptions for antidepressants among seniors living in LTC was higher (from 62% of residents in 2019 to 65% in 2021) than for seniors living in the community (from 22% in 2019 to 23% in 2021). Though these percentage increases were relatively small, they represent about 140,000 more seniors being prescribed antidepressants overall.

“Residents of long-term care homes have been some of the most affected by COVID-19. Lengthy lockdowns and limited visits from loved ones in the early part of the pandemic may be part of the reason we saw an increase in prescriptions for antidepressants in this sector,” said Deborah Cohen, Director, Pharmaceuticals and Health Workforce Information Services, CIHI. 

Seniors living in LTC were 8 times more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic drugs than those living in the community. During the pandemic, antipsychotic prescriptions among seniors living in LTC grew from 37% in 2019 to 43% in 2021. Antipsychotics are used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, including delusions, aggression and agitation.  

Drug use among seniors

Some of the report’s other key findings for seniors living in all settings include the following: 

• The average number of drugs prescribed to seniors decreased in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2019 to 2020), while the number of drugs prescribed for chronic conditions remained stable.
• Drugs to treat cardiovascular disease accounted for 5 of the 7 top drug classes prescribed to seniors in 2021.
• Drugs to treat diabetes saw the largest increase in utilization from 2017 to 2021, rising from about 20% to 21% of seniors (representing approximately an additional 220,000 seniors).
• Prescribing of antibiotics decreased from about 40% of seniors prior to the pandemic to about 30% in 2021 (representing 380,000 fewer seniors prescribed antibiotics).