A psychotropic drug use study among depression patients attending private psychiatric practitioners of Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 5
Abstract
Background: Drug use studies are beneficial in clinical practice for rational prescribing of drugs and helpful for minimizing the medication errors. Aims and Objectives: The present study investigates the prescribing pattern of various antidepressants among private practitioners of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was carried out in a private psychiatric unit at Dehradun. A total of 196 prescriptions were analyzed using World Health Organization drug use indicators and National Essential Medicine List (NEML) 2013. Results: Among 196 prescriptions, 54.08% were for females and 45.92% were for males. Depression was more commonly seen in patients in aged 31–50 years. Depression was more common among housewives (28.06%) and in married (52.04%) people. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) (39.17%) were the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants followed by serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (33.33%). Fluoxetine and escitalopram were the most commonly prescribed SSRIs. Alprazolam (59.33%) was most commonly prescribed benzodiazepine class followed by lorazepam (16.0%) for comorbid anxiety symptoms. Among patients, 18.48% antipsychotics were prescribed to patients; olanzapine and risperidone (atypical antipsychotics) were the most commonly prescribed. Trihexyphenidyl was the most common anticholinergic prescribed. The average number of drugs per prescription in our study was 3.03 with 55.39% drugs prescribed from the NEML 2013. Conclusion: Fluoxetine and escitalopram were the most commonly used SSRIs. SSRIs are preferred over other antidepressants because of their relative lesser side effects. Polypharmacy was observed with benzodiazepines as frequent coprescription
Authors and Affiliations
Shaktibala Dutta, Vijay Kaul, Mirza Atif Beg, Saubhagya Sindhu, Nand Kishore Singh, Srihari Dutta, Shalu Bawa, Mohammad Anjoom, Ankita Negi
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP117232
- DOI 10.5455/ijmsph.2015.19012015129
- Views 110
- Downloads 0
Prevalence of mosquito-borne Plasmodium infection in patients attending fever clinic in a tertiary-care teaching hospital, western India
Background: Malaria is a serious vector-borne parasitic infection worldwide in distribution, and it is still one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality in India. In a developing country such as India, it...
Knowledge and practice of primary care physicians about preventive and clinical aspect of dengue fever in Jeddah city, 2014
Background: Dengue fever (DF) remains a significant public health concern in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Proper, well- timed diagnosis and risk stratification for severe disease play vital role in the appropriate management...
Analyzing renal involvement in 100 cases of hematological malignancy
Background: Hematological malignancies are the most common nonrenal neoplasms affecting the kidneys. The incidence and type of renal involvement in these malignancies are variable and differ according to malignancy....
The role of bacterial infections on male infertility in Al-Anbar province of Iraq
Background: Bacterial infections on male infertility has always been in the field of debate due to scarce analysis tools to examine seminal fluid specimens as a result of which these infectious pro...
Awareness regarding tuberculosis among adolescents of urban slums
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has become a major public health problem affecting young adults leading to morbidity and mortality, despite TB control program being there for more than 30 years. Aims &am...