Pattern of Antipsychotic Drug Therapy in Psychiatric Patients: A Casec Study at Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction: Antipsychotic agents are commonly used to treat patients with psychiatric problems.  There are varieties of these drugs with different characteristics and treatment outcomes including their effectiveness and adverse events.  This study was aimed to identify the pattern of antipsychotic drug therapy in psychiatric patients at Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric hospital, Ubon Ratchathani.  Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in schizophrenic patients who were prescribed any of antipsychotic agents in the inpatient department during June - August, 2012.  Descriptive data, including the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the medication history were recorded.  Results: 111 patients were recruited in the study.  Of those, 70.27% were male with their mean age of 38.31±10.68 years old and 38.73% were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia type.  In addition, the highest physical co-morbidity was due to alcohol dependence at 16.21%.  In terms of the pattern of antipsychotic drug therapy, the two drug-combinations were commonly reported at 47.75%, followed by 39.0% of three drug-combination and 19.0% of only single agent use.  Moreover, the difference of PANSS between admission and discharge were significantly different (p-value <0.001) with the mean scores of 43.93%, 44.0% and 34.84% in the group of two drug- combinations, three drug-combinations and single antipsychotic drug, respectively.  The common adverse reactions reported were tachycardia (4.50%), acute dystonia (3.60%), rash and constipation (1.80%).   Conclusion: The results from these findings indicated that the combination therapies with at least 2 antipsychotic drugs were commonly used in schizophrenic patients at this hospital site.  Additionally, the difference in average PANSS tended to increase in the patients who used more than 1 antipsychotic drug therapy.