Prescribing Pattern of Antidepressant Drugs among General Practitioners and Psychiatrists: a study from Iran

Abstract

Aim – This study was aimed to investigate the pattern of antidepressant drugs prescription among general practitioners and psychiatrists of Kerman/Iran with the goal of preventing irrational drug use. Methods – A total of 279737 prescriptions by general practitioners and psychiatrists of Kerman in 2010-2011 were reviewed. The frequency of antidepressant drugs prescription based on patients’ sex and age group (10-year age groups), the prescribed drug group and the prescriber (general practitioner or psychiatrist) was assessed. Results - In whole, 3.1% of prescriptions included antidepressant drugs. Females` share of receiving antidepressant drugs was 63.7% and males’ was 36.3%. Maximum prescription rate was for the age group of 30-39 years (28%), while the lowest rate of antidepressant drugs prescription belonged to the age groups of fewer than 10 years and over 80 years. While 59.3% of prescriptions containing antidepressant drugs had been written by psychiatrists, 68.2% of patients referred to the psychiatrists had received antidepressants. Selective serotonin re-uptake specific inhibitors (SSRIs) were included in approximately 52.6% of prescriptions containing antidepressant drugs. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) with 37.4% prevalence rate were in the second rank. Conclusion – SSRIs followed by TCAs attained the highest rate of prescription by both general practitioners and psychiatrists. Low rate of antidepressant drugs in the prescriptions of general practitioners warrants more studies.

Keywords

• antidepressive agents
• drug prescriptions
• mental disorders