10^th Asia-Pacific Pharma Congress

Biography

Biography: Nashwa Masnoon

Abstract

Polypharmacy is common for people with mental illness, and is associated with increased risk of serious adverse events. The aim of this study was to compare medication prescribing patterns at the time of admission to and discharge from an acute psychiatric hospital, focusing specifically on characteristics of the use of antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines. This was a prospective study of a random sample of 60 patients admitted to the acute wards of a 125 bed psychiatric hospital. Medication use data was analysed to ascertain the range of medications prescribed, as well as characteristics of dosage regimen and intensity based on Defined Daily Doses (DDD). Patient-specific characteristics including age and gender were analysed. The mean patient age was 38.4 ± 11.5 years with 51.7% of patients being female. The number of regular antipsychotics did not significantly change between admission and discharge; the mean DDD of antipsychotics however was increased significantly (p = 9.0 × 10^-7) on discharge compared with on admission. Both the mean number and DDD for benzodiazepines was significantly decreased on discharge (p = 2.2 × 10^-15 and 4.2×10^-7 respectively). No significant changes in either the number or DDD of antidepressants at the time of discharge were identified (p= 0.71 and 0.20 respectively). There was a significant decrease in the mean number of medications whose prescribed dose was above the maximum recommended daily dose on discharge (p = 1.4×10^-7) when compared with admission.

The findings of this study indicate that admission to a mental health hospital is associated with rationalisation of treatment. This included optimisation of regular antipsychotic use, while minimising the use of benzodiazepines; agents which are commonly associated with dependence, tolerance and other unwanted adverse effects.