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Published on: November 21, 2013
Prescription patterns of psychotropic drugs in inpatient and in community outpatient care at the neuropsychiatric
Pedro Damián Gargoloff1, Martín A Urtasun2, Raúl Riveros3
1Médico Psiquiatra. Jefe de Sala. Hospital "Dr. Alejandro Korn", La Plata, Argentina. Asociación de Psiquiatras de Argentina (APSA). pdgargoloff@yahoo.com.ar.
Vertex (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
|April 16, 2025
Summary
Psychotropic medication patterns reveal high antipsychotic polypharmacy and frequent use of older antipsychotics in adults. Benzodiazepine prescriptions are also common, highlighting a need for dose reduction and deprescribing strategies.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Pharmacology
- Mental Health Services Research
Background:
- Psychotropic medication patterns are crucial for managing mental health conditions in adult populations.
- Understanding current prescribing practices, including polypharmacy and specific drug classes, is essential for optimizing patient care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify psychotropic prescribing patterns in adult patients at Hospital "Dr. Alejandro Korn" in La Plata, Argentina.
- To describe the prevalence of antipsychotic use, polypharmacy, and other psychotropic medications in inpatient and outpatient settings.
Main Methods:
- An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted.
- Prescriptions for psychotropic medications were collected from both hospitalized and outpatient individuals.
- Data analysis focused on diagnoses, medication classes, polypharmacy rates, and dosage equivalents.
Main Results:
- The study included 425 adult users, with schizophrenia and other psychoses being the most prevalent diagnoses (71.1%).
- High rates of antipsychotic (AP) use (94.6%) were observed, with significant use of first-generation antipsychotics (APG) (43.1%) and second-generation antipsychotics (77.2%).
- Antipsychotic polypharmacy (≥2 APs) occurred in 42.3% of users, rising to 69.9% among APG users. High doses of APs (≥600 mg chlorpromazine equivalents) were common (62.9%), and benzodiazepine prescriptions were frequent (74.6%).
Conclusions:
- There is a high frequency of antipsychotic polypharmacy, high doses of antipsychotics, and significant use of first-generation antipsychotics.
- Frequent prescription of benzodiazepines was also noted.
- Prioritizing the evaluation of dose reduction and deprescribing across various pharmacological groups is essential.
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