A STUDY ON PRESCRIBING PATTERN OF ANTIPSYCHOTICS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating psychiatric illness affecting around 0.4% to 1.4% of people at some point in their life. Early onset and the chronic course make schizophrenia a worrying disease. Prescribing pattern in Schizophrenia has seen a significant shift in the last two decades, from the first generation to second-generation antipsychotics. This study was carried out to analyze the pattern of antipsychotic drug utilization in patients of schizophrenia presenting at an outpatient department of a tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital for six months. Diagnosis of Schizophrenia was made according to DSM – 5 criteria. Prescriptions were analyzed for demographic details, and the psychotropic prescribing pattern was studied using WHO indicators. Results: Amongst 104 prescriptions, 59.61% were males, and 68.20% of study subjects were below 40 years. 95.96% prescriptions were of atypical antipsychotics, Risperidone being the most commonly prescribed (52.88%), followed by Olanzapine (28.84%). Antipsychotic polypharmacy was noted in 19.23% of the prescriptions. Concomitant anticholinergics were used in 64.42%. Majority of the prescriptions were written in generic names. Risperidone which was used often in the study is included in the NLEM 2015 of India. Conclusions: Socio-demographic aspects of schizophrenia patients showed that the disease is more prevalent in males and people under 40years age. Anticholinergic use is normally recommended only in select patients, in contrast to the current study population which had several of the patients on it.