Psychotropic drug

About: Psychotropic drug is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2309 publications have been published within this topic receiving 54070 citations.

Influence of Urban Residence on Use of Psychotropic Medications in Pennsylvania, USA: Cross-sectional Comparison of Older Adults Attending Senior Centers

Abstract: Background Differences in medication use by geographic region may indicate differences in access to specialist medical care, especially in the case of prescriptions for psychotropic medications. We assessed the effect of more or less urbanized residence on likelihood of psychotropic medication use in a large cohort of older adults in Pennsylvania, USA.

Comparison of the Defined Daily Dose and Chlorpromazine Equivalent Methods in Antipsychotic Drug Utilization in Six Asian Countries

Abstract: Background: The defined daily dose (DDD) from the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System can be utilised as a reference for international drug utilization research, according to the World Health Organization. Alternatively, chlorpromazine equivalent (CPZeq) is a traditional method that has been used to indicate the dose of antipsychotics for decades. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the DDD and CPZeq methods in order to calculate the total antipsychotic dose of inpatients with schizophrenia. Methods and Findings: Six countries (China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan) participated in antipsychotic prescription pattern surveys conducted four times during 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2016. The antipsychotic loading (APL) values of each prescription, calculated using the DDD and CPZeq methods, and their correlations were compared. A total of 6986 prescriptions from inpatients with schizophrenia were analysed. Spearman’s correlation coefficients (CCs) between the DDD and CPZeq were 0.853 overall, and 0.884, 0.843, 0.850, and 0.786 for the individual surveys (1–4, respectively). The CC of FGA only (n=2442), SGA only (n=2992) and combination of FGA and SGA (n=1552) were 0.901, 0.757, and 0.883, respectively. The mean APL values calculated by the DDD and CPZeq methods were 1.73 ± 1.40 and 597.0 ± 530.7 mg, respectively. Conclusions: Significant correlations between the DDD and CPZeq methods were observed. The decreasing trend in CC values from the first to the fourth survey might be attributed to the more common use of second-generation antipsychotics in recent years. We suggest that DDD method is more applicable in clinical practice and drug utilization research since other psychotropic drug such as mood stabilizers or anxiolytics can be calculated together.

[Enantiomers: a new problem in pharmacotherapy of depression?].

Abstract: Enantiomers as a optically active forms of drugs now have a big impact on most areas of pharmacotherapy. They arouse a large interest in the field of psychiatry and especially in the treatment of depression. This is due to the fact that enantiomers (chiral forms) of many drugs may have a different pharmacokinetic, pharmacological or pharmacogenetic profiles. Therefore, in many cases the use of a single enantiomer of the drug may have huge advantages over previously used forms and lead to strong improvement of the current treatments. An example is the stereoselective property of such a psychotropic drug fluoxetine as belonging to a group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

Integration of medical and psychiatric management in self-mutilation

Abstract: The traditional management of factitious patients with self-inflicted injuries consists of medical/surgical treatment of the physical lesions, followed by psychiatric referral. The former is assigned to the dermatologist, the surgeon, or the primary care physician. More often than not, the subsequent psychiatric referral for treatment of the psychiatric disorder underlying and actually causing the self-mutilation fails because of self-mutilators' notorious resistance to psychiatric help. The integration of a psychiatric strategy into the medical management is more effective than a sequential division of medical/surgical and psychiatric treatment. This integrated treatment strategy is based on three key issues: education of the medical team in understanding the self-mutilation as a morbid form of help-seeking behavior, the judicious use of confrontation as a therapeutic tool, and the combination of psychotropic drug treatment with psychotherapeutic techniques.

Trends in psychotropic prescribing in general practice and general medical patients.

Abstract: Psychotropic drug prescribing in 1280 medical inpatients between 1973-75 was compared with that in 1200 similar patients during 1982-83. Three benzodiazepines accounted for 64% of prescriptions in 1973-75 and nine benzodiazepines for 82% of prescriptions in 1982-83. Over the decade, use of psychotropic drugs fell from 56% to 38% (P less than 0.001), primarily due to a reduction in patients treated only in hospital (34% vs 16%, P less than 0.001). Before admission, the proportions of patients receiving these drugs were similar (17% vs 18%). During admission, concomitant administration of similar drugs declined from 22% of patients in 1973-75 to 11% in 1982-83 (P less than 0.001), while concurrent prescribing before admission increased from 13 to 19%. The marked fall in psychotropic drug use and in inappropriate concomitant therapy indicates an encouraging trend towards more rational drug use at least in hospital. This was achieved without fiscal control and further rationalization of prescribing habits may be achieved by self-audit within the profession without legislative action.