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The question whether patients actually start drug taking after having received a first antidepressant prescription is often overlooked.

To determine the incidence of patients who do not fill or fill only a single antidepressant prescription at the pharmacy, and to identify associated patient characteristics.

Retrospective study linking a general practice to a pharmacy dispensing database.

General practice in the Netherlands.

Study population: patients who received a first-time antidepressant prescription from a GP. Three patient groups were identified: patients who did not fill the prescription (non-fillers); patients who filled only a single prescription (single Rx-fillers); and patients who filled at least two consecutive prescriptions. Non-fillers and single Rx-fillers were combined into a group of decliners.

Of all 965 patients, 41 (4.2%) did not fill the prescription, and 229 (23.7 …