MedicineInsight data snapshot: young people with mental health issues

The 2022 NPS MedicineWise national program ‘Mental health and young people: opportunities to empower and engage’ focuses on the management of psychological distress, depression and anxiety disorders within primary care in young Australians aged 16 – 24 years.

To support the delivery of this program, individual practice and aggregate data were extracted from eligible general practices in the MedicineInsight program. The key insights from the aggregate data obtained on 1 November 2021 are presented below.

MedicineInsight (www.medicineinsight.org.au) is a national primary healthcare data and quality improvement program developed and managed by NPS MedicineWise with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health. The program collects de-identified information from medical records held in the clinical information systems at participating MedicineInsight practices across Australia.

Prevalence of anxiety and/or depression

Of all patients aged 16 ─ 24 years presenting to a MedicineInsight practice in the 24 months to 1 November 2021 (n = 343, 707), 21.9% (n = 75,131) have a reference to anxiety and/or depression as a condition, disorder or symptom (ever). More specifically:

  • 9.4% (n = 32,289) have both anxiety and depression
  • 8.2% (n = 28,035) have anxiety (but no depression)
  • 4.3% (n = 14,807) have depression (but no anxiety).

Use of GP Mental Health Treatment Plans

Of all patients presenting to a MedicineInsight practice in the 24 months to 1 November 2021, 32 % of those aged 16-24 years with anxiety and/or depression (ever) had a GP mental health treatment plan developed or reviewed in the last 12 months.

Management of patients with depression and/or anxiety

Of all patients presenting to a MedicineInsight practice in the 24 months to 1 November 2021, 54.3% of those aged 16-24 years with depression and/or anxiety (ever) were not prescribed any mental health medicine (see Figure 1).

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most commonly prescribed class of mental health medicines to this cohort, being currently prescribed to 33.2% of the cohort.

Figure 1. Medicines prescribed for patients aged 16-24 years with anxiety and/or depression

SSRI choice for patients with depression

The aggregate data reported that 35.2% of all patients aged 16-24 years presenting to a MedicineInsight practice in the 24 months to 1 November 2021 with depression (but no anxiety) are currently prescribed a SSRI.

Fluoxetine (32.7% of all SSRIs) and sertraline (31.8%) were the two most commonly prescribed SSRIs (see Figure 2). Paroxetine was the least commonly prescribed SSRI (1.1%).

Figure 2. SSRIs currently prescribed for patients aged 16-24 years with depression

General practices interested in an educational visit or who would like to access a copy of their individual practice data (MedicineInsight practices only) can contact their local NPS MedicineWise educational visitor or see here.

For further insights into the prevalence of antidepressant use, mental health and related conditions among young people attending MedicineInsight general practices between 2011 and 2020 see here.