Prescribing trends in psychotropic medications among outpatients of a
Latin American Healthcare setting: a five-year retrospective study
Abstract
Purpose: Mental health problems affect an estimated 700 million
people worldwide, and the prescription of psychotropic drugs is
increasing globally. The World Health Organization has called for
adequate surveillance of psychotropic drug prescriptions. This study
aims to characterize and find trends in the prescription of
psychotropics in a Latin American Hospital. Methods: The study
analyzed the dispensation of psychotropic prescriptions to outpatients
at three pharmacies in the central headquarters of Hospital Clínica
Bíblica in San José, Costa Rica, from 2017 to 2021. Psychotropic drugs
were classified by ATC groups, and the amount of each medication
dispensed was standardized using the defined daily dose per 10000
population per day metric. The prescriptions were categorized according
to medical specialty. Results: A total of 5793 psychotropic
prescriptions were recorded. The average age of the patients was 58
years. The total consumption of psychotropics decreased by 33.94% from
2017 to 2021, with the most significant decline until 2020. However,
there was an increase in consumption in 2021. The most commonly used
drugs were clonazepam, bromazepam, and alprazolam. Alprazolam was the
only drug that showed an increase in consumption. Anxiolytics were the
most commonly prescribed group of drugs. General medicine and psychiatry
were the primary specialties that prescribed psychotropics.
Conclusion: the consumption of psychotropic drugs decreased
from 2017 to 2020 but increased in 2021, with alprazolam being the only
drug that showed an increase in consumption throughout the entire
period. The elderly population was found to be the group that consumed
the most psychotropics.