Anti-depressant drugs are classified under section 4.3 of the British National Formulary (BNF) and the information in the following table is provided on this basis. Estimated figures are based on a sample of one in 20 prescriptions and have been grossed up to reflect the population totals and rounded.
BNF 4.3—prescription items dispensed (thousand) Estimate of prescription items dispensed for children (thousand) Percentage dispensed to children 1997 16,822.6 88 0.5 1998 18,424.5 84 0.5 1999 20,108.1 83 0.4 2000 22,021.8 95 0.4 2001 24,342.7 110 0.5 2002 26,329.3 120 0.5 2003 27,658.0 110 0.4 2004 28,995.5 94 0.3 2005 29,389.9 110 0.4 2006 31,038.0 110 0.4 Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system