Imran Bashir Chaudhry, Hassan Mustafa Minhas, Razaur Rahman, Muhammad Ishrat Husain, David Taylor, Moin Ansari, Nusrat Husain.
Which antipsychotics would mental health professionals from a low income country choose for themselves?.
J Pak Psych Soc Jan ;8(2):79-83.

Objective: To determine which antipsychotics mental health professionals from a low income country would choose for themselves. Design: Cross-sectional study Place and duration of study: This study was conducted in 8 cities in Pakistan from February to August 2008. Subjects and Methods: Responses from 268 mental health professionals, including psychiatrists and nurses were obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: All together 80% of doctors chose an atypical antipsychotic; risperidone was the most popular choice. Half of nurses did not know which antipsychotic to choose and the remaining chose haloperidol (21%) and risperidone (19%). Efficacy and safety were the two most important factors influencing their decision. Conclusion: Both doctors and nurses in Pakistan considered efficacy and safety/tolerability to be important factors for choosing an antipsychotic; this is in line with National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines 2009. Mental health training for nurses was identified as a major service deficiency.

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