title: Epidemiology of psychotropic drug use in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: gaps in mental illness treatments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Estimate the prevalence of psychotropic drugs use in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and establish its relationship with the presence of mental disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  A probabilistic sample of non-institutionalized individuals, from the general population of Rio de Janeiro (n = 1208;turn out:81%), 15 years or older, who were interviewed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 (depression, anxiety-phobia, OCD\PTSD, alcoholism sections), and asked about their psychotropic use during a 12 and one-month period before the interview. Data were collected between June/2007-February/2008.The prevalence was estimated with a confidence interval of 95%. The associations between psychotropics use and mental disorders were analyzed through a logistic regression model (Odds Ration - OR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The one-month prevalence of psychotropic drug use was 6.55%, 3.19% for men and 9.13% for women. Antidepressants were the most frequently used drug (2.78%), followed by anorectics (1.65%), tranquilizers (1.61%) and mood stabilizers (1.23%). General practitioners issued the highest number of prescriptions (46.3%), followed by psychiatrists (29.3%); 86.6% of the psychotropic drugs used were paid for by the patient himself. Individuals with increased likelihood of using psychotropic drugs were those that had received a psychiatric diagnosis during a one-month period before the study (OR:3.93), females (OR:1.82), separated/divorced (OR:2.23), of increased age (OR:1.03), with higher income (OR:2.96), and family history of mental disorder (OR:2.59); only 16% of the individuals with a current DSM IV diagnosis were using a psychotropic drug; 17% among individuals with a depression-related diagnosis and 8% with Phobic Anxiety Disorders-related diagnosis used psychotropics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approximately 84% of individuals displaying some mental disorder did not use psychotropic drugs, which indicates an important gap between demand and access to treatment. A significant failure is evident in the health system for patients with mental disorders; this could be due to health workers' inability to recognize mental disorders among individuals.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of São Paulo - Paulista Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil. inesquintana@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Maria Ines
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Quintana
authors.forename: Sergio B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Andreoli
authors.forename: Fernanda G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Wagner S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Marcelo M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Feijo
authors.forename: Rodrigo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bressan
authors.forename: Evandro S F
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Jair J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002947:Cities / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs