Psychotropic drug prescription in general practice in Italy: a two-week prevalence study

A study on psychotropic drug monitoring was carried out in Verona over a 2-week period using information obtained during consultation with 3 GPs. Psychotropic drugs accounted for 23.4% and 24.3% of all prescriptions in men and women respectively. Benzodiazepines were the most frequently prescribed: 76% and 72% of all psychotropic prescriptions respectively in women and in men. No significant association between psychotropic drug prescription and age, sex, marital status and occupation was found in the present survey. In men only, those patients with higher educational level were more likely to receive a prescription for psychotropic drugs than those with a lower educational level. About 70% of men and 60.4% of women diagnosed by the GP as having a psychiatric problem were prescribed a psychotropic drug. However, the probability of a psychotropic being prescribed, when a psychiatric problem is identified by the GP, was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) in men than in women: odds ratio 39.37 and 16.33 respectively. Psychotropic drugs were prescribed in 35% of men and in about 48% of women in which a social problem was identified by the GP. Women were about 5 times more likely to receive a prescription than men: odds ratio 12 and 2.75 respectively. A significant influence of physical ill-health and educational level on psychotropic prescription emerged: both effects were independent of sex, psychiatric morbidity and social problems. Using a logistic regression analysis, an interactive effect between sex and conspicuous psychiatric morbidity and between sex and social problems was also found.