Abstract
This paper presents the usage of psychotropic drugs by all general inpatients of a Boston teaching and referral hospital on a randomly chosen weekday. Of all surveyed inpatients, 42.8% were receiving at least one psychotropic medication. Sleep medications were the most frequently prescribed class of psychotropic drugs and flurazepam was the most commonly prescribed of all drugs. Phenothiazine and neuroleptics were given to control agitation, pain, or nausea, rather than psychosis. Antidepressants were prescribed without notated justification in the medical record, and if given for depression, were underdosed. Diazepam was the most frequently prescribed antianxiety drug and was the most frequently prescribed psychotropic drug after flurazepam. Psychotropic drug polypharmacy was common, with the average patient receiving seven different drugs. Remedial approaches to this widespread problem are recommended.
References
Apr 1, 1975·Archives of General Psychiatry·D J GreenblattJ Koch-Weser
Nov 1, 1978·Psychosomatics·R I ShaderD J Greenblatt
Jun 1, 1973·Archives of General Psychiatry·H J ParryD I Manheimer
Citations
Sep 1, 1982·General Hospital Psychiatry·F P McKegney, R M Beckhardt
Jan 1, 1994·General Hospital Psychiatry·F G ZitmanY A Hekster
Jul 13, 2000·Addictive Behaviors·D A D'MelloC L Fernandes
Jun 1, 1994·British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·J U RosholmL F Gram
Dec 1, 1991·Journal of Advanced Nursing·R J HalfensK Cox
Mar 1, 1990·Academic Psychiatry : the Journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry·D G DanielP Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Jan 13, 2016·International Psychogeriatrics·Scott BruneroLisa John
Sep 1, 1985·Psychosomatics·R J Goldberg, V Mor
Sep 1, 1989·General Hospital Psychiatry·T N WiseK Sonnenschein
Oct 1, 1985·General Hospital Psychiatry·H JaegerF Brescia
May 1, 1987·General Hospital Psychiatry·J J SeamanJ Lyon
Jan 1, 1993·General Hospital Psychiatry·D A PiconeB Msibi
Dec 9, 1998·International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine·J WancataC Müller
Jan 1, 1993·The International Journal of Social Psychiatry·S Marino
Nov 1, 1982·Cancer·L R Derogatis
Feb 21, 2009·Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy·Stephen Kellett, Jessica V Bolton
Feb 1, 1986·The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science·R Mayou, E B Smith
Dec 1, 1986·Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie·M S Rapp