Characteristics of people in the study cohort, determined at index date
| All | Mirtazapine | SSRI | Amitriptyline | Venlafaxine | Statistic | |
| Count | 24 516 | 4777 | 14 428 | 3801 | 1510 | |
| Age, median (IQR) | 41 (29–54) | 44 (31–59) | 39 (27–51) | 48 (37–61) | 41 (30–51) | KW χ2(3)=890.9, p<0.001 |
| Sex, n (%) | ||||||
| Male | 10 190 (41.6) | 2456 (51.4) | 5731 (39.7) | 1303 (34.3) | 700 (46.4) | |
| Female | 14 326 (58.4) | 2321 (48.6) | 8697 (60.3) | 2498 (65.7) | 810 (53.6) | χ2(3)=308.3, p<0.001 |
| Ethnicity, n (%)* | ||||||
| Asian | 447 (2.5) | 105 (2.9) | 237 (2.3) | 83 (2.8) | 22 (2.1) | |
| Black | 259 (1.5) | 37 (1.0) | 150 (1.5) | 56 (1.9) | 16 (1.5) | |
| Mixed | 159 (0.9) | 35 (1.0) | 96 (0.9) | 18 (0.6) | 10 (1.0) | |
| Other | 214 (1.2) | 34 (1.0) | 136 (1.3) | 32 (1.1) | 12 (1.1) | |
| White | 16 728 (93.9) | 3350 (94.1) | 9614 (94.0) | 2773 (93.6) | 991 (94.3) | χ2(12)=21.1, p=0.049 |
| Missing ethnicity, n (%) | 6709 (27.4) | 1216 (25.5) | 4195 (29.1) | 839 (22.1) | 459 (30.4) | χ2(3)=90.5, p<0.001 |
| Townsend Score quintile, n (%)* | ||||||
| 1 (least deprived) | 4830 (19.7) | 861 (18.0) | 2853 (19.8) | 795 (20.9) | 321 (21.3) | |
| 2 | 4962 (20.3) | 941 (19.7) | 2898 (20.1) | 763 (20.1) | 360 (23.9) | |
| 3 | 5290 (21.6) | 1004 (21.0) | 3118 (21.6) | 843 (22.2) | 325 (21.5) | |
| 4 | 5305 (21.7) | 1049 (22.0) | 3186 (22.1) | 807 (21.2) | 263 (17.4) | |
| 5 (most deprived) | 4111 (16.8) | 918 (19.2) | 2360 (16.4) | 593 (15.6) | 240 (15.9) | χ2(12)=60.1, p<0.001 |
| Missing Townsend score, n (%) | 30 (0.1%)‡ | <5 | 13 (0.1%) | <5 | <5 | – |
| BMI, median (IQR)* | 26.2 (22.8–30.8) | 25.6 (22.4–29.8) | 26.1 (22.7–30.5) | 27.2 (23.5–32.2) | 26.7 (23.2–31.2) | KW χ2(3)=136.6, p<0.001 |
| Missing BMI, n (%) | 6954 (28.4) | 1409 (29.5) | 4316 (29.9) | 794 (20.9) | 435 (28.8) | χ2(3)=124.7, p<0.001 |
| Smoking status, n (%)* | ||||||
| Never | 9635 (40.5) | 1774 (38.3) | 5725 (41.0) | 1503 (40.1) | 633 (43.4) | |
| Former | 6565 (27.6) | 1243 (26.8) | 3747 (26.8) | 1173 (31.3) | 402 (27.6) | |
| Current | 7600 (31.9) | 1614 (34.9) | 4496 (32.2) | 1068 (28.5) | 422 (29.0) | χ2(6)=62.7, p<0.001 |
| Missing smoking status, n (%) | 716 (2.9) | 146 (3.1) | 460 (3.2) | 57 (1.5) | 53 (3.5) | χ2(3)=32.9, p<0.001 |
| Alcohol intake, n (%)* | ||||||
| Non-drinker | 3200 (33.4) | 615 (31.8) | 1875 (34.3) | 534 (32.3) | 176 (34.1) | |
| Former drinker | 1367 (14.3) | 316 (16.3) | 725 (13.3) | 263 (15.9) | 63 (12.2) | |
| Occasional drinker | 4092 (42.7) | 790 (40.8) | 2345 (42.9) | 733 (44.3) | 224 (43.4) | |
| Moderate drinker | 450 (4.7) | 98 (5.1) | 256 (4.7) | 71 (4.3) | 25 (4.8) | |
| Heavy drinker | 464 (4.8) | 118 (6.1) | 264 (4.8) | 54 (3.3) | 28 (5.4) | χ2(12)=36.8, p<0.001 |
| Missing alcohol intake, n (%) | 14 943 (61.0) | 2840 (59.5) | 8963 (62.1) | 2146 (56.5) | 994 (65.8) | χ2(3)=60.1, p<0.001 |
| Mental health indicators | ||||||
| Severe depression†, n (%) | 2303 (9.4) | 472 (9.9) | 1323 (9.2) | 327 (8.6) | 181 (12.0) | χ2(3)=16.9, p=0.001 |
| Recorded depression scale, n (%) | 15 076 (61.5) | 2862 (59.9) | 8879 (61.5) | 2383 (62.7) | 952 (63.0) | χ2(3)=8.9, p=0.031 |
| Alcohol misuse, n (%) | 768 (3.1) | 220 (4.6) | 407 (2.8) | 99 (2.6) | 42 (2.8) | χ2(3)=42.9, p<0.001 |
| Anxiety, n (%) | 7319 (29.9) | 1458 (30.5) | 4292 (29.7) | 1090 (28.7) | 479 (31.7) | χ2(3)=6.1, p=0.106 |
| Contact with mental health services, n (%) | 5895 (24.0) | 1488 (31.1) | 3264 (22.6) | 684 (18.0) | 459 (30.4) | χ2(3)=257.5, p<0.001 |
| Eating disorder, n (%) | 94 (0.4) | 17 (0.4) | 61 (0.4) | 9 (0.2) | 7 (0.5) | χ2(3)=3.1, p=0.380 |
| Insomnia, n (%) | 2981 (12.2) | 769 (16.1) | 1411 (9.8) | 621 (16.3) | 180 (11.9) | χ2(3)=208.1, p<0.001 |
| Intellectual disability, n (%) | 80 (0.3)‡ | 8 (0.2) | 58 (0.4) | 9 (0.2) | <5 | χ2(3)=7.4, p=0.059 |
| Personality disorder, n (%) | 101 (0.4) | 24 (0.5) | 52 (0.4) | 15 (0.4) | 10 (0.7) | χ2(3)=4.2, p=0.239 |
| Self-harm (primary care), n (%) | 863 (3.5) | 185 (3.9) | 507 (3.5) | 110 (2.9) | 61 (4.0) | χ2(3)=7.3, p=0.062 |
| Substance misuse disorder, n (%) | 577 (2.4) | 177 (3.7) | 303 (2.1) | 65 (1.7) | 32 (2.1) | χ2(3)=49.2, p<0.001 |
*Counts and percentages do not include missing values.
†Severe depression: Either a Read code for severe depression or depression with psychosis, scoring 15 or above on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale, or scoring 16 or above on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale.
‡Value rounded to mask small numbers.
BMI, body mass index; KW, Kruskal-Wallis test; n, number; SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.