BMJ : British medical journal
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Objective To examine off-label indications for antidepressants in primary care and determine the level of scientific support for off-label prescribing. Design Descriptive study of antidepressant prescriptions written by primary care physicians using an indication based electronic prescribing system. Setting Primary care practices in and around two major urban centres in Quebec, Canada. ⋯ For the remaining 44.6% (40.2% to 49.0%) of off-label prescriptions, neither the prescribed drug nor any other drugs in the class had strong evidence for the indication. Conclusions When primary care physicians prescribed antidepressants for off-label indications, these indications were usually not supported by strong scientific evidence, yet often another antidepressant in the same class existed that had strong evidence for the respective indication. There is an important need to generate and provide physicians with evidence on off-label antidepressant use to optimise prescribing decisions.