Ambulatory Pharmacotherapy of Five Psychiatric Disorders in Bahrain: a Descriptive Study

We examined the outpatient prescription pattern of psychotropic drugs used for the treatment of five major psychiatric diseases in Bahrain. Setting outpatient department of the main psychiatric hospital in Bahrain. Methods This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study in which we targeted randomly selected prescriptions (n = 992, 56.1% males, 43.9% females) from 1st of January until 31st of December, 2017. Main outcome measure the types of outpatient psychotropic drugs prescribed by the physicians. Results The pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia consisted of atypical anti-psychotics (92.8%), or typical anti-psychotics (17.8%). The anti-depressants used were: Selective-serotonin reuptake inhibiters (SSRIs) (41.6%), Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibiters (SNRIs) (34.5%), tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) (12.8%), and atypical anti-depressants (10.6%). Combination anti-depressants was employed in (12.4%) of cases. The pharmacotherapy for anxiety disorders was composed of benzodiazepines (59.5%), atypical anti-psychotics (45.2%), SSRIs (40.5%), SNRIs (28.6%), TCAs (14.3%), and anti-convulsants (16.7%) and atypical anti-psychotics (7.1). The medications prescribed for bipolar disorder were atypical anti-psychotics (78.6%), anti-convulsants (66.5%), benzodiazepines (27.7%), typical anti-psychotics (8.9%) and lithium (6.7%). Schizoaffective disorder patients received atypical anti-psychotics (97.3%), anti-convulsants (47.8%), benzodiazepines (27.4%), SNRIs (25.7%), SSRIs (15%), typical anti-psychotics (10.6%), atypical anti-depressants (10.6%) and TCAs (6.2%). A combination of antipsychotics and anti-depressants was employed in 33.6% and 4.7% of all subjects regardless of the diagnosis, respectively. Conclusions With a few exceptions, the pharmacotherapy of psychiatric diseases in Bahrain was in line with the latest recommendations. However, psychotropic polypharmacy was observed and calls for immediate attention.