Postgraduate Student, Department of Pharmacology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India, Corresponding Author.
J Assoc Physicians India. 2023 Sep;71(9):14-18. doi: 10.59556/japi.71.0334.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increase in mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. This study aims to investigate the prescribing pattern of psychotropic drugs in patients with common mental disorders which might be altered during the pandemic and also whether the pandemic could alter their quality of life (QOL) and medication adherence.
After prior ethical approval, a descriptive cross-sectional drug utilization study (DUS) of 200 prescriptions was undertaken to evaluate the pattern of psychotropic drug usage as per WHO (World Health Organization)/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) guidelines. The correlation of the average number of drugs per prescription with QOL was observed. The correlation of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) with medication adherence was also analyzed.
The average number of drugs per prescription during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 period was estimated to be 2.48 and 2.96. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name in the two different periods (pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19) was 97.40 and 95.77%. The percentage of drugs prescribed from the list of essential medicines was 89.40 and 85.12%, respectively. The percentage of prescriptions with injections was 0.45% and 0.53%, respectively for the two periods. The QOL during the COVID-19 pandemic was found to be negatively correlated to the average number of drugs per prescription (correlation coefficient = -0.61) and medication adherence was found to be poor in patients who developed ADRs with the drugs prescribed (-value of 0.001).
In the tertiary care hospital described, rational drug prescribing was followed. Increase in the number of drugs per prescription was found to be associated with poor QOL and the development of ADRs led to medication nonadherence in the patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these results. How to cite this article: Kumar A, Halder S, Srivastava S, Increased Pill Burden and Adverse Effects of Psychotropics Correlated with Poor Quality of Life and Medication Nonadherence: A Cross-sectional Drug Utilization Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi during COVID-19 Pandemic. J Assoc Physicians India 2023;71(9):14-18.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致抑郁和焦虑等心理健康问题增加。本研究旨在调查大流行期间可能改变的常见精神障碍患者的精神药物处方模式，以及大流行是否会改变他们的生活质量（QOL）和药物依从性。
在事先获得伦理批准后，进行了一项描述性横断面药物利用研究（DUS），共 200 张处方，以评估根据世界卫生组织（WHO）/国际合理用药网络（INRUD）指南使用精神药物的模式。观察了每张处方平均药物数量与 QOL 的相关性。还分析了药物不良反应（ADR）与药物依从性的相关性。
COVID-19 前和 COVID-19 期间每张处方的平均药物数量估计分别为 2.48 和 2.96。两个不同时期（COVID-19 前和 COVID-19）以通用名开处方的药物百分比分别为 97.40%和 95.77%。从基本药物清单中开处方的药物百分比分别为 89.40%和 85.12%。两个时期的注射处方百分比分别为 0.45%和 0.53%。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，生活质量与每张处方的平均药物数量呈负相关（相关系数=-0.61），并且发现药物不良反应的患者药物依从性较差（-值为 0.001）。
在所描述的三级保健医院中，遵循了合理的药物处方。发现每张处方的药物数量增加与 QOL 较差有关，并且患者发生 ADR 会导致药物不依从。需要进一步进行具有更大样本量的研究来证实这些结果。如何引用本文：Kumar A, Halder S, Srivastava S, 在德里的一家三级保健医院进行的 COVID-19 大流行期间，精神药物的负担增加和不良反应与生活质量差和药物不依从相关：一项横断面药物利用研究。J 印度医师协会 2023;71(9):14-18。
