Drug Surveillance in Psychiatric Patients in the Federal Republic of Germany

TLDR: The main aim of the study was to assess data on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) under conditions of everyday clinical practice.

Abstract: In 1979 a study for drug surveillance in psychiatric patients (Arzneimitteluberwachung in der Psychiatrie, AMUP) was initiated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Neuropsychopharmakologie und Pharmakopsychiatrie, financed by the Federal Health Agency (Bundesgesundheitsamt) of the Federal Republic of Germany. The main aim of the study was to assess data on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) under conditions of everyday clinical practice. Data on type and frequency of ADRs for various psychotropic drugs are available from clinical trials, however in everyday clinical practice patients of all age groups, including the elderly, are treated; some patients have concomitant physical diseases, and frequently drug combinations are used, as polypharmacy is a common practice in psychiatry worldwide (Clark and Holden 1987; Grohmann et al. 1986; Schmidt et al. 1987; Swett 1979). As the need for additional information on the occurence of ADR under these treatment conditions had not previously been met by any large-scale drug surveillance study, the AMUP study was undertaken.