Evaluation of psychotropic prescription patterns at the time of discharge from inpatient unit of a tertiary care general hospital psychiatric unit

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prescription pattern of inpatients admitted in the psychiatric unit of a tertiary care hospital at the time of discharge from the inpatient setting. Material and Methods: In this retrospective chart review data of 496 patients admitted in the psychiatric unit of a tertiary care hospital in northern India diagnosed with an International Classification of Diseases-10 diagnosis of psychotic, affective and neurotic disorder were extracted and analyzed. Results: In all diagnostic groups, olanzapine was the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic followed by risperidone. Very few patients (8.8%) received typical antipsychotics. Venlafaxine was the most commonly prescribed antidepressant; other frequently prescribed antidepressants were fluoxetine, amitriptyline, and sertraline. Among the mood stabilizers, prescription of valproate exceeded that of lithium. In all the groups, more than half of the patients were prescribed benzodiazepines, clonazepam being the most commonly prescribed agent, followed by lorazepam. The mean numbers of psychotropic medications were highest in the bipolar disorder group. Very few patients received the combination of drugs belonging to the same class i.e.,, receiving two antidepressants or two antipsychotics. Conclusion: Olanzapine, venlafaxine, valproate and clonazepam are the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic, antidepressants, mood stabilizers and benzodiazepines, respectively.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-SA

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