An observational study to evaluate the awareness of drug treatment, prescription pattern, adverse drug reactions, and adherence in patients of major depressive disorder

Due to the paucity of studies in and out of India that dealt with treatment awareness of major depressive disorder (MDD), we decided to assess the awareness of MDD patients, and since adherence and awareness are linked to each other, we assessed adherence too. Prescription pattern studies identify changes in prescriptions due to poor initial response or adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which may result in dose reduction or switching medications and delay remission. Therefore, the study assessed the ADR pattern. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out on 200 MDD patients with treatment records for at least 3 months after getting approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee and consent from the patients. The data obtained were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The mean age was 44.65 ± 12.02 years, and females were 70%. Maximum patients (98%) were aware of the consequence of stopping the drugs suddenly, and only 12.5% were aware of the onset of response to treatment. Escitalopram was the most common antidepressant prescribed (43.77%), and 67 ADRs out of 136 were attributable to it. Weakness and fatigue were the most common ADRs. The majority (97) of the ADRs were possibly related to antidepressants, and 65% of patients showed optimal adherence to medications. This study sheds light on the treatment awareness and adherence of MDD patients in India and highlights the need for educating patients about treatment response. It also emphasizes the importance of monitoring ADRs and adjusting prescription patterns accordingly to improve treatment outcomes.