The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×

OBJECTIVE: Antidepressant use has increased in the last decade, but whether depression continues to be undertreated is unknown. The authors investigated the prevalence of antidepressant treatment and its predictors in a recent general population sample of depressed subjects. METHOD: As part of the Finnish Health Care Survey, in 1996 a representative sample of Finns (N=5,993) aged 15–75 years underwent a standardized face-to-face interview that used the DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive episode. RESULTS: Only 13% of subjects with a major depressive episode during the preceding 12 months (70 of 557) reported current use of an antidepressant. In logistic regression models, use of psychiatric services for depression, regular use of any other medication, more than 1 month of sick leave, and smoking were associated with antidepressant treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Most depressed subjects in 1996 in Finland were not receiving antidepressant treatment despite the several-fold increase in antidepressant use in the 1990s.