title: Discharge prescribing practices: Comparing a research ward to general treatment wards.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the prescribing practices between a research ward and general non-research wards within the same psychiatric facility.
  
  
  METHODS
  This drug utilization survey is a retrospective naturalistic study evaluating discharge prescriptions from a tertiary-care psychiatric teaching hospital over a 2-year period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, patients discharged from the general wards were prescribed significantly more psychotropic medications than patients discharged from the research ward. This was attributed, in part, to the greater prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy and anticholinergic utilization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We postulate that the academic environment of a research ward accounts for the differences in prescribing practices observed in our study.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Flynn
keywords: Drug Utilization Review Psychotropic Drugs Medical Audit Schizophrenia