title: Psychotropic drugs prescriptions in Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Psychotropic drugs prescriptions for patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics were studied. Of the 52,168 prescriptions written in 1996, 18,265 were systematically, randomly selected and evaluated. Incomplete prescriptions were found; the data missing included duration of treatment (18.75%), sex (9.25%), age (8.75%) and diagnosis (7.50%). Antipsychotics (33.1%), antidepressants (23.2%), anticholinergics (22.0%) and anticonvulsants (12.9%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs. Polypharmacy (85%) was the predominant mode of practice. The most common diagnoses were mood (23.1%), anxiety (17.7%) and schizophrenic (16.2%) disorders. Medical education and quality monitoring programmes are suggested to improve the quality of psychotropic prescriptions and modify multiple pharmacotherapy practice.
authors.affiliation: Buraidah Mental Health Hospital, Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: al-Ghamdy
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Qureshi
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Abdelghadir
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: al-Habeeb
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017723:Drug Utilization Review; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012529:Saudi Arabia
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs