Rates and Correlations of Psychiatric Drug Administration in a Rehabilitation Center.

BACKGROUND

Physical injury has been associated with the development of several psychopathological manifestations. Less is known about the use of psychiatric medication in those patients.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore the use of psychiatric medication by patients been admitted in a rehabilitation center in a tertiary care teaching hospital and to inquire for the correlations of such drug administration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The sample consisted of 127 patients who had been admitted to a rehabilitation center, being in the postacute phase of their condition during a 2-year period. Patients' medical records were searched for the demographic and clinical information.

RESULTS

Analysis was performed for 118 patients, mostly men (62.7%) with the mean age of 57.5 years. About 43.2% of patients ( = 51) were referred for psychiatric consultation, and 39.8% ( = 47) were prescribed a psychiatric drug. Traumatic brain injury was the diagnosis, positively correlated to referral. Twenty-seven out of the 67 nonreferred patients (40.3%) were prescribed psychiatric regimens by physicians. Nearly 38.1% of patients were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder by the consultation-Liaison psychiatric service.

CONCLUSIONS

In a rehabilitation center, psychiatric drug administration is common practice and drugs may be prescribed by the center's physicians and by psychiatrists. Such a drug prescription was found to be correlated to referral to the consultation-Liaison psychiatric service.