Prescription pattern of depressive and anxiety disorders in patients attending Psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary hospital in Telangana

Depression and anxiety are the most common mental illnesses encountered in patients visiting psychiatry outpatient clinics. The relative safety of majority of antidepressants and anxiolytics has increased their routine use. However, limited data is available on the prescribing patterns of these drugs, especially from the state of Telangana. The aim of this study was to assess the prescription pattern in depression and anxiety disorders in patients attending Psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Telangana. A prospective observational study was conducted in Psychiatry outpatient department in Government General Hospital (GGH), Nalgonda over a period of 6 months (March 2021 to August 2021). A total of 45 patients suffering from anxiety and depression, based on International Classification of Diseases-10th edition (ICD-10), were selected. Data was collected using a semi-structured proforma and analyzed. A total of 103 drugs were prescribed and the average number of drugs per prescription was 2.29. It was found that majority of patients were in 15-35 years age group (60%), female (62.22%), married (60%) and from urban background (82.2%). In the study population, 55.55% were suffering from anxiety disorders, out of which 31.11% had Generalized anxiety disorder. Among the depressive disorders (44.45%) majority had Severe depressive episode (26.67%) followed by Moderate depressive episode (17.78%). The duration of illness was less than 6 months in majority of patients (75.56%). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most common group of drugs prescribed. 41 prescriptions (91.11%) contained SSRIs, and Sertraline was the most common drug followed by Escitalopram. 93.33% of the prescriptions also included Benzodiazepines (Clonazepam). 35.55% of the prescriptions had fixed dose combinations, commonest being Escitalopram 10mg + Clonazepam 0.5mg.