Psychotropic drug

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

Analysis of psychotropic drug-related deaths in south Osaka.

Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of deaths due to psychotropic drugs in south Osaka during a 10-year period and discuss societal factors from a medical viewpoint. Methods Psychotropic drug-related deaths were retrospectively investigated based on the forensic postmortem data of 1,746 decedents in 2005-2014, and we excluded cases in which stimulant drugs were detected. Of these, 133 cases (7.6%) were found to be psychotropic drug-related deaths and were analyzed. Results Psychotropic drug-related deaths occurred in 78 males (59%; age range, 14-95 years) and 55 females (41%; 20-84 years). The direct cause of death was acute drug intoxication in many cases, and of these, acute combined drug intoxication due to the use of multiple drugs accounted for 76% of the deaths. Most of these victims were found to have gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases. Cases of psychotropic drug-related deaths had especially poor medical conditions. In addition, tests were positive for blood alcohol in 23% of the cases. Conclusion The descriptive results revealed several factors that may be related to psychotropic drug-related deaths. To prevent drug abuse, several factors were deemed to be important, including improvements in the medical state of an individual, the avoidance of social isolation, and from a medical standpoint, the management of prescription drugs by medical personnel.

Clinical Characteristics and Psychotropic Drug Prescription Patterns of Bipolar Disorder Patients with a History of Suicidal Attempts: Findings from the REAP-BD, Korea.

Abstract: Our study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics and psychotropic prescription patterns of a history of suicide attempts in South Koreans with bipolar disorder (BD), by using only Korean data from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Pattern for Bipolar disorder. The patterns of clinical characteristics and psychotropic drug use were compared among 53 patients with a history of suicide attempts and 297 without this history; the potential effects of confounding variables were adjusted with binary logistic analyses for discrete variables and analyses of covariance for continuous variables. After adjusting the effects of age, sex, duration of illness, and enrollment as an outpatient, patients with a history of suicide attempts were characterized by a significantly more prevalent depressive episode, lower prevalent remission state, lower levels of hemoglobin, and more use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics compared to those without lifetime suicide attempt. The inability to plan goal-directed behavior may be an intervening factor in the relationship between suicide attempts and depression in BD. Relatively low hemoglobin levels can be associated with manic episodes in patients with a history of suicide attempts and the use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, or hypnotics can be associated with suicide attempts in BD patients.

Psychiatric pharmacy in a partial hospital program.

Abstract: Psychiatric pharmacy practice in a partial hospital program (PHP) is described. The program's objectives are: (1) to provide a transitional setting in which to assist persons with psychiatric disorders to reenter the community after hospitalization; (2) to provide more structured and intensive therapy than is available in an outpatient setting; and (3) to diagnose and treat early psychiatric symptoms, providing an alternative to hospitalization. The pharmacist conducts medication history interviews, co-directs a weekly medication group, participates in weekly medication clinic, provides individual consultation, teaches pharmacy students, participates in health care group, and provides inservice education to the staff. Clinical pharmacy services in a psychiatric partial hospital program increase knowledge of psychotropic drug efficacy and side effects in PHP staff, increase learning about these medications in PHP clients, and can result in safer and more effective use of medication.

The role of psychotropic drugs in the elderly with hip fractures

Abstract: Psychotropic drug therapy, which represents an important aspect of health promotion in the elderly, is considered to be associated with a high incidence of falls and hip fractures. In this retrospective case-control study, the interaction was tested between psychotropic drug use (short-and long-acting anxiolytics/hypnotics, antidepressants and antipsychotics), sex and hip fractures in 196 consecutive cases of community-dwelling elderly with hip fractures and 133 healthy age- and sex-matched community-residing controls. A total of 20% of the cases and 21% of the controls were receiving psycho-active medications. No association was found between fracture occurrence and use of psychotropics (p = 0.73). In addition, no significant interaction was found between sex and the incidence of fracture. Psychotropic drug use may be less important than previously assumed in connection with the occurrence of hip fractures in the elderly.