title: [Antipsychotic prescription patterns in patients affiliated to the Social Security Health System in Colombia].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schizophrenia alters individual perception, thought, affection and behavior. Drug therapy can improve these manifestations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine prescription patterns of antipsychotic drugs in a group of patients affiliated to the Social Security Health System in Colombia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a descriptive study with a 6.2 million people database. We selected 3,075 patients medicated with antipsychotics, of both sexes, and all ages, with continuous treatment from March to June, 2012, and residing in 57 Colombian cities. We designed a database on drug consumption, obtained by the company that distributes the drugs to the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3,075 patients were studied, with an age mean of 55.8 ± 21.5 years; 50.3% of the participants were women. Of all patients, 81.9% were receiving monotherapy and 18.1% two or more antipsychotics. Prescription order was 77.1% atypical and 31.9% conventional. The most frequently used drugs were: quetiapine (on 30.3% of the patients), clozapine (23.7%), levomepropamize (18.4%), and risperidone (14.9%). The most common combinations were: haloperidol + levomepromazine (n=67, 12.1%), clozapine + pipotiazine (n=54, 9.7%), clozapine + risperidone (n=45, 8.1%), and quetiapine + levomepromazine (n=40, 7.2%). The most prescribed co-medications were: antidepressants (n=998, 32.5%), anxiolytic (n=799, 26.0%), statins (n=672, 21.9%); antiparkinsonians (n=341, 11.1%), and antidiabetic drugs (n=327, 10.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The practice of prescribing drugs with a high therapeutic value predominates mainly in antipsychotic monotherapy. Most agents were used in higher doses than recommended. This raises the need to design educational strategies to address these prescribing habits and research for evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, , Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A.
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Machado-Alba
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, , Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A.
authors.forename: Cristhian David
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Morales-Plaza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012943:Social Security; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents