DRUG UTILIZATION AND PRESCRIPTION PATTERN OF ANTIDEPRESSANTS IN PSYCHIATRIC DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY
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Keywords
Drug utilization, antidepressants, prescription patterns, psychiatric care, rational prescribing, fixed-dose combinations, generic drugs
Abstract
Objective: The present observational prospective clinical-pharmacological study aimed to assess the drug utilization and prescription pattern of antidepressants in the psychiatric outpatient department at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Hospital, Jaipur.
Methods: The study spanned six months, and prescriptions of 100 patients were recorded including patient’s demographic details, diagnosis, drug name, dose duration and frequency. Patients’ consent was sought before data collection. Rationality of the prescriptions were assessed using WHO core prescribing indicators.
Results: The findings of the study showed that depression was more common among males and in the 21-40 years age bracket. The most frequent diagnosis was endogenous depression with mixed depressive anxiety disorder being the second most frequent. Among the antidepressants, escitalopram, which is usually co-administered with clonazepam was the most common and fluoxetine was the second most common. The use of multiple drugs was common, with three drugs being the most used and most patients were on one-month courses. A meager 9% of the drugs were prescribed by their generic name; 46% of the drugs belonged to the National List of Essential Medicines. The use of FDCs was observed in 8. 2% of the prescriptions.
Conclusion: The present study concluded that further improvements are needed in prescribing practices of antidepressants. Several problems such as low compliance with generic prescribing, insufficient utilization of essential medicines, high levels of polypharmacy and FDCs that lead to higher costs, possible side effects, and interactions stress the significance of increasing the role of rational prescribing to increase the effectiveness of treatment and decrease the costs of healthcare
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Priyanka
PG Resident, Dept of Pharmacology, MGUMST Jaipur
Dr Anusha Vohra
Senior Professor and Hod, Dept of Pharmacology, MGUMST Jaipur
Smriti Chawla
Demonstrator, Dept of pharmacology, PGIMS Rohtak