Drug Utilization Study of Psychotropic Drugs among Psychiatric Outpatients in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Chawla, et al.: Drug Utilization Study of Psychotropic DrugsAvailability and utilization of a wide variety of psychotropic drugs is associated with a wide spectrum of adverse drug reactions. To ensure the rational use of psychotropic drugs, it is imperative to monitor their pattern of use. The present study mainly focuses on the pattern of utilization of psychotropic drugs among psychiatric outpatients in a tertiary care hospital. A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out in the psychiatry outpatient department from January to December 2012. A total of 600 cases were studied. Demographic and drug related information was collected. With respect to the psychotropic drug utilization, sedative-hypnotics (42.9 %) were the most commonly prescribed group of psychotropic drugs followed by antidepressants (31.8 %), antipsychotics (19.6 %) and mood stabilizers (5.6 %). Among the sedative hypnotics, clonazepam (51.1 %) and amongst antidepressants, sertraline (28.9 %) and fluoxetine (17.3 %) were the most frequently utilized. The prescription of atypical antipsychotics like risperidone (41 %) and olanzapine (39.8 %) was predominant (95.4 %) over the typical ones. Valproate (54.7 %) was observed to have surpassed the use of lithium (32 %) as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorders. A substantial increase in the use of anticonvulsants as mood stabilizers was observed. The use of the psychotropic drugs for different indications was in accordance to the current recommendations and guidelines. Newer drugs were being prescribed more often as compared to the conventional medications owing to their better safety and tolerability profiles. The psychotropic drug use in the health facility was a combination of rational and effective practice.

Drug utilization study of psychotropic drugs in psychiatry out-patient department of a tertiary care hospital in Kerala: a geriatric perspective

“…Higher number of drugs per encounter can increase the risk of drug interactions, dispensing errors, patient not knowing correct dosage schedule, patient noncompliance and increased cost. 11 Out of the total 291 drugs prescribed only 2.06% of the drugs were prescribed by generic name which is much less when compared to the WHO standards. 8 WHO highly recommends prescribing medications by generic name as a safety precaution for patients because it identifies the drug clearly, enables better information exchange and allows better communication between health care providers.…”

“…most of our patients. 11 Giving drugs in the form of injections is not a common practice in psychiatry, barring emergency situations. The percentage of encounters with an injectable prescribed in this study was only 0.03% when compared to study done by Nandagopal et al 8 In this study out of the total 237 psychotropic drugs, 41.77% of psychotropic drugs were prescribed from NLEM (2015) and 17.72% from the WHO model list of essential medicines (2017).…”

<p>Medication Profile and Treatment Cost Estimation Among Outpatients with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, and Anxiety Disorders in Indonesia</p>

“…This finding is consistent with the finding in the 2012 study by Chawla et al, which reported that the most widely used drug among patients with bipolar disorder in India was sodium valproate (54.7%). 43 In addition, a 2009 study involving bipolar disorder outpatients in South Africa mentioned that most patients (83.8%) were prescribed at least one standard mood stabilizer and that sodium valproate was the most prescribed mood stabilizer (37.1%). 44 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of valproate as first-line therapy in acute manic episodes.…”

Consumption of psychotropic medicines at a referral hospital Namibia: findings and implications

“…above 18 years) globally is estimated at 10 %. 10 The public health burden is greatest among low and middle-income countries such as Namibia. In Namibia, the prevalence of mental illnesses is estimated at 25.6% 11 and is expected to double by 2025.…”