Use and Misuse of Antidepressants in Nationally Representative Samples of Community-Dwelling Ethnic Minorities: Results from the National Latino Asian American Survey and the National Survey of American Life

Hector Gonzalez, PhD, Gerontology and Family Medicine, Wayne State University, 87 East Ferry Street, 226 Knapp, Detroit, MI 48202, 313.577.2297, hmgonzalez@med.wayne.edu, Thomas Croghan, MD, Mathematica Policy Research, 600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 550, Washington, DC 20024-2512, Ladson Hinton, MD, Psychiatry, UC Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, Brady West, MA, CSCAR, University of Michigan, 3550 Rackham, 915 E. Washington St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, Zhun Cao, PhD, Cambridge Health Alliance, 120 Beacon Street, Somerville, MA 02143, Margarita Alegria, PhD, Psychiatry--Center for Multicultural MH Research, Harvard Medical School, 120 Beacon St., Somerville, MA 02143, David R. Williams, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, David T. Takeuchi, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 4101 15th Ave NE, Box 354900, Seattle, WA 98105, and James S. Jackson, PhD, Survey Research Center, ISR, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Background: Little is known about the use of antidepressants for the treatment of psychiatric disorders among Latino groups in the U.S. Past studies on this topic have usually relied on clinical and insurance-based samples. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and predictors of past twelve-month antidepressant use among Latinos. Design: The National Latino Asian American Survey (NLAAS) is a cross-sectional U.S. national probability sample survey. Setting: The forty-eight contiguous United States Respondents: Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban-American and other Latino household residents ages 18 years and older who responded to the NLAAS survey were included. Main Outcome Measure: Antidepressant medications used in the past twelve-months. Results: The prevalence of past 12-month antidepressant use by Latinos and major ethnic subgroups with lifetime and twelve-month Major Depressive Disorders, Dysthymia, Anxiety and any of the aforementioned DSM-IV psychiatric disorders will be reported. Important predictors of antidepressant use will be reported. Conclusions: Preliminary findings from the collaborative studies (National Survey of American Life and National Latino Asian American Survey-Asian American sample) in this panel indicate that few ethnic minorities with the DSM-IV disorders examined had used an antidepressant in the past 12-months. The results of this study, in conjunction with the aforementioned collaborative studies, will provide a comprehensive report on antidepressant among nationally representative samples of community-dwelling, U.S. ethnic minority groups.