Antipsychotic prescriptions in a university hospital outpatient population in Turkey: a retrospective database analysis, 2005-2006.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to document the sociodemographic and the clinical profile of patients who are on antipsychotic (AP) medication prescribed in outpatient mental health clinic of a university hospital.


METHODS
A retrospective chart review was conducted for all outpatient files between 2005 and 2006 at the Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Medical Faculty Hospital, Department of Psychiatry in Turkey. All patients prescribed AP with regular follow up were recruited for the study. The type of AP and the route of administration were recorded. The diagnosis, age and gender of the patients were also evaluated.


RESULTS
We reviewed 1606 patients' files. APs were prescribed in 27.6% of the patients. Atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) represented 75.1% and typical antipsychotics (TAPs) represented 24.9% of all antipsychotic prescriptions in our study. The main psychiatric diagnoses associated with a TAP prescription were: psychotic disorders (6.5%), major affective disorders (49.5%), anxiety disorders (36.4%), and other psychiatric diseases (7.4%). The main psychiatric diagnoses associated with an AAP prescription were: psychotic disorders (35.1%), major affective disorders (31.1%), anxiety disorders (27.8%), somatoform disorders (2.4%) and other psychiatric diseases (6.4%). Twenty-eight of these patients (6.3%) were prescribed more than one AP, 45 patients were prescribed mood stabilizer (10.2%) and 272 patients were prescribed antidepressant agents (61.2%) in addition to AP.


CONCLUSIONS
The results reflect the particular use of AAPs in present study population. In line with the published data, the results of this study show that AAPs and TAPs are widely used in those with major affective disorders and psychotic disorders. These findings also underline the widespread off-label use of APs in the treatment of other psychiatric disorders.
Atik
Levent
L
Department of Psychiatry, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak, Turkey. leventatik2003@yahoo.com
Erdogan
Ayten
A
Karaahmet
Elif
E
Saracli
Ozge
O
Atasoy
Nuray
N
Kurcer
Mehmet Ali
MA
Balcioglu
Ibrahim
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs