Prescription pattern of psychotropic drugs among patients attending outpatient department of psychiatry: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The rational use of the drug is so much important in the present-days because the consequences of irrational prescribing may lead to adverse events which are avoidable and can save the available sources. Thus, to estimate the number of patients who are given the drugs for a specific time in a certain area, drug utilization research can be done. One of the important public health priorities which include long-term treatment is psychiatric disorders. Thus, it is important to study prescribing practices of the drugs used for psychiatric disorders. Aim and Objective: The objective of our study was to assess the prescription pattern as the WHO International Network of Rational Use of Drugs drug use indicators. Materials and Methods: This was the prospective observational study. After approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, the patients of both sexes and all ages, suffering from a psychiatric illness and started on at least one psychotropic drug, were selected from the outpatient Department of Psychiatry, GMCH, Jalgaon, in the duration of February 21–April 21. The data were collected in Microsoft Excel and an appropriate statistical test was applied for analysis. Results: Analysis of 513 prescriptions was done which shows that men received more psychotropic prescriptions than female and antipsychotics were the most commonly prescribed class of psychotropic drugs. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 82.75% and the percentage of prescription containing fixed-dose combinations was 74.7%. Conclusion: Prescription pattern at Government Medical College, Jalgaon, shows male preponderance in psychiatric illnesses. The most common class of drug prescribed was antipsychotics.