Matthias Schwannauer

BACKGROUND: Understanding prescription trends and costs of psychotropic drugs is essential to inform mental healthcare policy and practice. However, comprehensive national evidence across psychotropic drug classes is limited, and little is known on how prescription volumes changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. AIMS: We examined prescription trends and costs of psychotropic drugs in the UK and assessed changes in prescription volumes following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: We analysed national Prescription Cost Analysis data from 2013 to 2023, for six major psychotropic drug classes. Annual prescription volumes, total costs and average costs per drug were estimated. Linear regression was used to assess temporal trends and changes in prescription volume during the pandemic years. Costs were adjusted for inflation to 2023 prices. RESULTS: Between 2013 and 2023, psychotropic prescriptions grew 4% (95% CI 3.9-4.2) annually. Prescriptions for antidepressants, antipsychotics, stimulants and anti-dementia drugs increased, but not for hypnotics and anxiolytics and drugs used in substance dependence. In contrast, total costs declined by approximately £328 million, and the average cost per drug dropped from £11 to £5.9. Prescription volume remained unchanged during the pandemic years, except for anti-dementia medications, which showed an annual reduction of 17.2% (95% CI 7.8-26.6) relative to the underlying temporal trend during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Our observed rising prescription trend is consistent with global evidence on availability and use of psychotropic drugs. Furthermore, we found a decrease both in total drug costs and average costs per drug.