Abstract

Edgar Cano-Torres , * , Ismael Lares- Asseff , Martha Sosa- Macías , Carlos Salas Hernández , Alberto Allegre-Alonso , Carlos Galaviz Hernández , Alexis Lares López , Verónica Loera Castañeda

Psychiatric diseases have become a public health problem owing to their increased prevalence. An option for their treatment is psychoactive medications, which are associated with multiple adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to determine the pharmacoepidemiology of psychoactive medication and the prevalence of psychiatric disease in adult patients seen at the Psychiatry Department at Durango General Hospital. Clinical histories of the patients were reviewed for patients over 18 years of age that were seen at the outpatient clinic of the Psychiatry Department at Durango General Hospital that were diagnosed at this hospital with psychiatric conditions requiring psychoactive medication for their treatment. The study was conducted between January 2009 and February 2010. The most commonly diagnosed conditions were the neurotic disorders, stress related disorders, and somatization disorders (42.9%), with the most common sub-classification being major depression with anxiety (26.3%). Seventy six percent of patients received more than one medication for their treatment. The most commonly prescribed medications were the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, with fluoxetine being the most prescribed medication (42.2%). Anxiolytics were the second most prescribed group, with clonazepam being the most prescribed medication within this group (67.8% of patients). Contrasting with the clinical practice guidelines, in which single drug therapy is recommended for most of the psychiatric diseases, only 23.24% of the patients received single drug therapy. The age group with most prescriptions was between 30 and 59 years of age.