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# Antidepressant persistence in Manitoba falls to 25% by one year after first prescription
- URL: https://www.coios.me/antidepressant-persistence-in-manitoba-falls-to-25-by-one/
- Published: 2026-11-02T13:18:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T17:25:54.000Z
- Description: Of 76,200 new antidepressant users with mood or anxiety disorders, 30.2% filled only once and 75.4% stopped within a year.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Behavioural science, Adherence and persistence, Mental health, Canada, #peer-reviewed, #confirms, #item, #source-2026-10, #score-78

This retrospective cohort followed 76,200 new antidepressant users with mood or anxiety disorders in Manitoba from 2015 to 2021\. Outpatient dispensing data defined persistence as refilling the index drug with no gap over 60 days. Persistence was 56%, 41%, 33% and 25% at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Income assistance (OR 0.57) and tricyclics versus SSRIs (OR 0.31) predicted lower 12-month persistence. Male sex (OR 0.87), age under 25 (OR 0.74) and prior PTSD (OR 0.83) also predicted lower persistence. Dispensing records only proxy actual use, and switching to another antidepressant counted as discontinuation.

*Why it is interesting: Three in four new users stopped their first antidepressant within a year, short of the recommended 6 to 12 months. Persistence also varied with income assistance, drug class and region within a universal health system.*

Source

[BMC Psychiatry, 31 October 2026](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-026-08482-3?ref=coios.me)

Paper

Patterns of antidepressant persistence in mood and anxiety disorders: a retrospective population-based cohort study

Authors

Aziz MA, Al Maruf A, Bolton JM, Kowalec K, Eltonsy S, Friesen K et al.

DOI

10.1186/s12888-026-08482-3

Full text

[Open copy](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13721214/?ref=coios.me) (open-access copy, PubMed Central)

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Retrospective population-based cohort using Manitoba administrative dispensing and health data, 76,200 new antidepressant users with mood/anxiety diagnoses, 2015-2021, 12-month follow-up

Verdict

Confirms prior evidence

Driver

[Adherence and persistence](https://www.coios.me/d-adherence/)

Driver

[Mental health](https://www.coios.me/d-mental-health/)