The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad
Objective. To describe, analyze, and interpret patterns of psychotropic drug prescribing in new psychiatric patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Design and Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of psychotropic drug prescribing by psychiatrists fo...
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Pan American Health Organization
2002
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:055811e1d01b496f8fe11ad787958925 2023-05-15T15:15:00+02:00 The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad Shelley Moore Lazara K. Montane Jaime Hari Maharajh Indar Ramtahal Sandra Reid Feroza Sircar Ramsewak Mala Maharaj 2002-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/055811e1d01b496f8fe11ad787958925 EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892002000900010 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/055811e1d01b496f8fe11ad787958925 Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 12, Iss 3, Pp 207-214 (2002) Psychotropic drugs drug therapy drug utilization mental disorders Trinidad and Tobago Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2002 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T10:25:22Z Objective. To describe, analyze, and interpret patterns of psychotropic drug prescribing in new psychiatric patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Design and Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of psychotropic drug prescribing by psychiatrists for 132 new psychiatric outpatients who were seen at the outpatient clinics surveyed and who were entering the mental health system during the period of research, November 1998 through February 1999. Results. A single patient could be prescribed more than one psychotropic drug. Antidepressant drugs were the class of psychotropic drugs most prescribed (79 of 132 patients, 59.8%), followed by antipsychotic drugs (67 of 132 patients, 50.8%). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were the antidepressants most prescribed (58 of the 79 patients), mainly amitriptyline (53 of the 58). Fluoxetine was the only selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) prescribed (21 of the 79 patients prescribed antidepressants). Of the 67 patients receiving antipsychotic drugs, phenothiazines accounted for 41 of those 67, including trifluoperazine (14 of the 41) and thioridazine (13 of the 41). The individual antipsychotic most prescribed was sulpiride (21 of the 67 patients). Anticholinergic drugs were prescribed to 20 of the 132 patients (15.1%). Eighty-three of the patients were prescribed more than one drug concomitantly (either more than one psychotropic or a combination of psychotropic(s) and nonpsychotropic(s)). Prescription by ethnicity, age, and gender coincided with the morbidity rates encountered in these patients. The prescribing of SSRIs to persons of African or East Indian ethnicity was significantly lower than it was for persons of mixed heritage. Conclusions. The prescription patterns of psychotropic drugs in Trinidad revealed the psychiatrists' preferences for traditional psychotropic drugs, the moderate use of anticholinergic drugs, and polypharmacy in some cases, with probable predisposition to adverse drug reactions. Given our ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Indian Trinidad ENVELOPE(-60.734,-60.734,-63.816,-63.816) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
Psychotropic drugs drug therapy drug utilization mental disorders Trinidad and Tobago Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Psychotropic drugs drug therapy drug utilization mental disorders Trinidad and Tobago Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Shelley Moore Lazara K. Montane Jaime Hari Maharajh Indar Ramtahal Sandra Reid Feroza Sircar Ramsewak Mala Maharaj The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
topic_facet |
Psychotropic drugs drug therapy drug utilization mental disorders Trinidad and Tobago Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Objective. To describe, analyze, and interpret patterns of psychotropic drug prescribing in new psychiatric patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Design and Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of psychotropic drug prescribing by psychiatrists for 132 new psychiatric outpatients who were seen at the outpatient clinics surveyed and who were entering the mental health system during the period of research, November 1998 through February 1999. Results. A single patient could be prescribed more than one psychotropic drug. Antidepressant drugs were the class of psychotropic drugs most prescribed (79 of 132 patients, 59.8%), followed by antipsychotic drugs (67 of 132 patients, 50.8%). Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were the antidepressants most prescribed (58 of the 79 patients), mainly amitriptyline (53 of the 58). Fluoxetine was the only selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) prescribed (21 of the 79 patients prescribed antidepressants). Of the 67 patients receiving antipsychotic drugs, phenothiazines accounted for 41 of those 67, including trifluoperazine (14 of the 41) and thioridazine (13 of the 41). The individual antipsychotic most prescribed was sulpiride (21 of the 67 patients). Anticholinergic drugs were prescribed to 20 of the 132 patients (15.1%). Eighty-three of the patients were prescribed more than one drug concomitantly (either more than one psychotropic or a combination of psychotropic(s) and nonpsychotropic(s)). Prescription by ethnicity, age, and gender coincided with the morbidity rates encountered in these patients. The prescribing of SSRIs to persons of African or East Indian ethnicity was significantly lower than it was for persons of mixed heritage. Conclusions. The prescription patterns of psychotropic drugs in Trinidad revealed the psychiatrists' preferences for traditional psychotropic drugs, the moderate use of anticholinergic drugs, and polypharmacy in some cases, with probable predisposition to adverse drug reactions. Given our ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shelley Moore Lazara K. Montane Jaime Hari Maharajh Indar Ramtahal Sandra Reid Feroza Sircar Ramsewak Mala Maharaj |
author_facet |
Shelley Moore Lazara K. Montane Jaime Hari Maharajh Indar Ramtahal Sandra Reid Feroza Sircar Ramsewak Mala Maharaj |
author_sort |
Shelley Moore |
title |
The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
title_short |
The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
title_full |
The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
title_fullStr |
The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
title_full_unstemmed |
The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in Trinidad Prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de Trinidad |
title_sort |
prescribing of psychotropic drugs in mental health services in trinidad prescripción de psicotrópicos en los servicios de salud mental de trinidad |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/055811e1d01b496f8fe11ad787958925 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.734,-60.734,-63.816,-63.816) |
geographic |
Arctic Indian Trinidad |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Indian Trinidad |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 12, Iss 3, Pp 207-214 (2002) |
op_relation |
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892002000900010 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/055811e1d01b496f8fe11ad787958925 |
_version_ |
1766345399080058880 |