Fayyaz Ahmad.
Antipsychotic prescription for non psychotic illnesses in a community mental health resource centre.
J Pak Psych Soc Jan ;7(1):45-6.

We aimed to conduct a study of patients who were on an active outpatient caseload and were prescribed antipsychotic medications for non psychotic illnesses. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Demographic, clinical and medication data of all patients attending the community mental health team between 1st of September 2002 and 30th of September 2002 was collected by manual exploration of case notes. Information extracted included gender, age, diagnosis, medication prescribed, dosages and chlorpromazine equivalence as per Maudsley prescribing guidelines. RESULTS The total number of patients attending out patient clinics was 152. Out of these, 90 patients (59%) were prescribed antipsychotic medication. Patients with psychotic symptoms were excluded from this study. The age distribution is shown in Figure 1. According to diagnostic analysis, 71 patients (47%) had a diagnosis of nonpsychotic disorders (32 male and 39 females). Out of these, 34 patients (48%) were diagnosed with depression, 14 (20%) with anxiety, 8 (11%) with mixed anxiety and depression and 15 patients (21%) were diagnosed with other non-psychotic disorders (Figure 2). Out of 71 patients with non-psychotic disorders, 20 patients (29%) were prescribed antipsychotic medication (Figure 3). Of these 20, 11 patients were male and 9 were female. The average antipsychotic dose was 382.5 mg of chlorpromazine equivalent (male average dose=361mg and female average dose=400 mg). Two patients were prescribed more than 100% BNF limits.(Short communication)

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