Table 2 Descriptive statistics for prescribed antidepressant medication. Prescribed antidepressant medication use for BC cases, BC- free population comparators and both, in relation to the start of follow-up, for individuals with start of follow-up on or after 01/07/2006 (A), Distribution of number of antidepressant medication cycles across individuals among those with at least one prescription (B), Median duration of the first five medication cycles and discontinuation periods (C). Prescribed Drug Register data available from 01/07/2007 onwards

A

BC- free individuals

BC cases

Both

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

Women with no prescriptions within a year prior to or after the start of follow-up)

76,413 (82.7)

14,051(76.7)

90,464(81.7)

Women with prescriptions more than a year prior the start of follow-up only

5199(5.6)

902(4.9)

6101(5.5)

Women with prescriptions only after the start of the follow-up

8338(9)

2680(14.6)

11,018(9.9)

Women with prescriptions more than 12 months prior and after the start of follow up

2504(2.7)

680(3.7)

3184(2.9)

92,454 (100)

18,313 (100)

110,767 (100)

B

Number of antidepressant medication cycles after the start of follow up among those with at least one prescription (N = 14,202)

Number of individuals (N, %)

1

2

3

4

5

6

6 645

46.79%

2 803

19.74%

1653

11.64%

1070

7.53%

752

5.30%

496

3.50%

7

8

9

10

11

 > 11

310

2.18%

220

1.55%

116

0.82%

79

0.56%

36

0.25%

23

0.15%

C

1^st

2^nd

3^rd

4^th

5^th

Median medication cycles duration (years)

0.25

(3 months)

0.27

0.33

0.34

0.4

Median discontinuation period duration(years)

0.23

0.15

0.11

0.09

0.8