title: Review of calls to an Australian teratogen information service regarding psychotropic medications over a 12-year period.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telephone counselling services are increasingly utilised by consumers to obtain contemporary and confidential information about perinatal drug and toxin exposure. The use of such services in regard to psychotropic agents is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency and types of calls to a New South Wales (NSW)-based telephone counselling service regarding perinatal psychotropic agent exposure between 2000 and 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analyses of MotherSafe call data between two epochs: I (2000-2005, n = 46,277) and II (2006-2011, n = 118,587), total 164,864 calls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  25,698 (15.6%) calls were made about psychotropic agents: 16,218 (9.8%) about antidepressants, 3,145 calls (1.9%) about mood stabilisers/antiepileptic agents, 2,878 (1.7%) about benzodiazepines and 3,457 (2.1%) about antipsychotic drugs. Calls regarding psychotropic agents doubled in epoch II (18,231 vs 7,467, epoch I) but decreased as a proportion of total calls (I: 16.1% vs II: 15.4%, P < 0.001). Selective serotonin inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most common drugs of concern (>44% of total psychotropic calls). The proportion of calls regarding particular agents changed significantly between epochs, for example paroxetine (epoch I: 14.8% vs epoch II: 6.7% of all antidepressant calls, P < 0.001) and quetiapine (epoch 1: 10.6% vs epoch II: 34.7% of all antipsychotic calls (P < 0.001). Calls from rural areas of NSW increased from 22.6 to 24.7% (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consumer demand for information about the use of psychotropic agents for women of child-bearing age has increased considerably over the last decade, particularly in rural areas of Australia. This indicates a need to review current existing services, particularly for rural consumers.
authors.affiliation: Mothersafe, The Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia; School of Women's and Children's Health, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eamus
authors.forename: Majella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Ju Lee
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Oei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018692:Antimanic Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D004346:Drug Information Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales; D011247:Pregnancy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D013723:Teratogens
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D018692:Antimanic Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D013723:Teratogens
keywords: antidepressants; antipsychotics; perinatal; telephone counselling service