Prescription Pattern of Antipsychotics Polypharmacy in patients with Schizophrenia in an Indian Hospital

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a burdensome illness which virtually affects all aspects of the patient’s life. There is a lack of national level data from India on prescription pattern of Antipsychotics Polypharmacy and other drugs combination in the treatment of Schizophrenia. Aim and Objectives: To evaluate Prescription pattern of Antipsychotic Polypharmacy in schizophrenia. Methodology: The medication records of patients admitted from August 2006 to May 2007 were reviewed to evaluate the prescription pattern of antipsychotics poly pharmacy, Demography of the patients like age, sex, were also evaluated. Results: The medical records of 139 schizophrenic patients were reviewed, out of 139 patients 30.93% (n = 43) patients received combination therapy. In combination therapy 28.77% (n=40) were prescribed two antipsychotics and 0.007% (n= 3) were prescribed three antipsychotic drugs. The average age was 34.4±11.9 years. F 20.0 Paranoid schizophrenia received maximum prescriptions for combination therapy 18.71% (n=26). Comparison of adjunct medication showed Anxiolytics and Anticholinergics 17.26% (n=25) received maximum prescriptions for combination therapy A total of 20.86% (n=29) received combination of Second Generation Antipsychotics SGA + First Generation Antipsychotics FGA, maximum patients 18 was in the combination of Haloperidol + Resperidone. Conclusion: The present study revealed an increasing trend of polypharmacy among schizophrenia patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital. The present study demonstrate the rate of antipsychotic polypharmacy is relatively low in India