Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a global health concern and one of the most common comorbidities among patients with somatic diseases. Mapping of prescription drugs for somatic diseases could differentiate MDD patients in terms of somatic burden.

Objective: This study aimed to identify and characterize the somatic drug profiles among MDD patients at diagnosis and over time.

Methods: A nationwide register-based study including all Danish patients with an incident MDD diagnosis between 2011 and 2015 was performed. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to sub-group the population according to somatic drug use (drug profiles). The changes between somatic drug profiles were depicted in four different time intervals from 3 years prior MDD diagnosis to 3 years after the MDD diagnosis.

Results: The study population comprised 37,080 MDD patients (mean age 41.5 years, 62% women). The LCA identified five somatic drug profiles: 1) limited drug use (74.3%), 2) drugs for pain management (7.6%), 3) cardiovascular drugs (10.7%), 4) drugs for obstructive airway diseases (2.3%), 5) high drug burden (5.1%). The limited drug use profile included 96% of the population younger than 35, the other drug profiles mainly included patients older than 35. The majority of the population continued in the same drug profile during all time intervals. Movement between drug profiles over time was most common in the population older than 35.

Conclusions: Using data driven methods on prescription drugs for treatment of somatic diseases, five somatic drug profiles, generally stable over time, were identified in patients with MDD.