DRUG UTILIZATION PATTERN OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS IN PSYCHIATRIC OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2017.v10i1.15112Abstract
Objective: The growing concern over the burden of psychiatric illnesses in health statistics elicit the importance of rational prescribing of psychotropic drugs. Due to the minimal number of studies conducted in this area, the present study was carried out to assess the morbidity pattern and prescribing trend of drugs used in psychiatric outpatients.
Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted for a period of 6-month in a psychiatric outpatient department. The medical records of 202 patients were reviewed for analyzing the prescription pattern using the World Health Organization drug indicators, wherein patients were categorized according to the International Classification of Diseases-10 criteria.
Results: In the present study, 129 (63.9%) of the 202 patients were males. The majority of the patients (36.63%) were in the age group of 25-35 years. Substance-related disorders (28.71%) were the most common psychiatric disorders followed by schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (22.77%). Anxiolytics and hypnotics (31.99%) were the most commonly prescribed psychotropic drug class followed by antipsychotics (20.2%) and antidepressants (18.18%) with clonazepam (47.89%), risperidone (42.5%), and escitalopram (57.4%) being the most common drugs, respectively. Polypharmacy was found in 93.56% of the prescriptions with an average of 3.396 drugs/prescription. Generic drug usage (39.94%) was found to be low when compared to the brand drug usage (60.05%).
Conclusion: Benzodiazepines were the most commonly used psychotropic drugs. Polypharmacy, although practiced as a treatment strategy to manage psychiatric illnesses, predisposes patients to adverse events and adherence issues.
Â
Keywords: Drug utilization pattern, Psychotropic drugs, Polypharmacy, Psychiatric outpatients.
Downloads
References
Jayanthi CR, Divyashree M, Sushma M. Adverse drug reactions in psychiatry outpatients: Clinical spectrum, causality and avoidability. J Chem Pharm Res 2013;5(8):128-35.
Prueksaritanond S, Tubtimtes S, Pumkompol T, Sukying C. Psychotropic drug prescribing in the family medicine out-patient clinic, Ramathibodi Hospital. J Med Assoc Thai 2009;92(2):266-72.
Shamkuwar CA, Chakravorty AD, Shrivastava MP, Deshmukh R. Pattern of prescription and drug use in psychiatry outpatient department of private practitioners of central India. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol 2013;2(6):777-82.
WHO International Working Group for Drug Statistics Methodology. Introduction to Drug Utilization Research. Geneva: WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Utilization Research and Clinical Pharmacology; 2003. Available from: http://www.whocc.no/filearchive/publications/drug_ utilization_research.pdf. [Last cited on 2012 Nov 01].
Deshmukh SA, Ismail T. Evaluation of psychotropic drugs use pattern among outpatients attending psychiatry department at government medical college and hospital, Nagpur: A cross sectional study. Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2012;3(3):428-36.
Sarkar P, Chakraborty K, Misra A, Shukla R, Swain SP. Pattern of psychotropic prescription in a tertiary care center: A critical analysis. Indian J Pharmacol 2013;45(3):270-3.
Sanjay K, Gurvinder K, Nilesh S, Amresh S. Polypharmacy in psychiatry: A review. Mens Sana Monogr 2013; 1(1):82-9.
Nirojini SP, Bollu M, Nadendla RR. Prevalence of medication non-adherence among the psychiatric patients - results from a survey conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2014;6(4):461-3.
Paul PK, Konwar M, Das S. To study the prescribing pattern of antipsychotic drugs in a tertiary care hospital of Assam. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2014;6(4):435-7.
Chattar KB, Karve AV, Subramanyam A, Tondare SB. Prescription pattern analysis of antidepressants in psychiatric outpatient department of tertiary care hospital in India. Asian J Pharm Clin Res 2016;9(4):77-9.
Kumar SP, Yasmeen N, Raju YS, Gurunath S, Duvvala P. Psychiatric disorders: Prescribing patterns, cost of antipsychotics and prevalence trend from past to present. Am J Phytomed ClinTher 2013;1(7):554-61.
Sarumathy S, Menaka K, George PS, Ravichandiran V. A study on drug use pattern and adverse drug reactions of anti-psychiatric medications in a psychiatry specialized hospital. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2014;6(6):332-4.
Grover S, Avasthi A, Sinha V, Lakdawala B, Bathla M, Sethi S, et al.
Indian psychiatric society multicentric study: Prescription patterns of psychotropics in India. Indian J Psychiatry 2014;56(3):253-64.
Rode SB, Ajagallay RK, Salankar HV, Sinha U. A study on drug prescribing pattern in psychiatry out-patient department from a tertiary care teaching hospital. Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol 2014;3(3):517-22.
Grover S, Avasthi A. Anti-psychotic prescription pattern: A preliminary survey of Psychiatrists in India. Indian J Psychiatry 2010;52(3):257-9.
Trivedi JK, Sareen H, Yadav VS, Rai SB. Prescription pattern of mood stabilizers for bipolar disorder at a tertiary health care centre in north India. Indian J Psychiatry 2013;55(2):131-4.
Thakkar KB, Jain MM, Billa G, Joshi A, Khobragade AA. A drug utilization study of psychotropic drugs prescribed in the psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. J Clin Diagn Res 2013;7:2759-64.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
The publication is licensed under CC By and is open access. Copyright is with author and allowed to retain publishing rights without restrictions.
