TY - JOUR
T1 - utilization pattern of anti-depressants at a tertiary hospital in Oman
T2 - A retrospective analysis
AU - Al Za'abi, Mohammed
AU - Al Jabri, Asaad S.
AU - Al Bartamani, Jabran K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Mohammed Al Za'abi et al.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Introduction: Antidepressants play a major role in managing depression and other conditions. The use of various classes of antidepressants varies from a country to another but information about the use of these agents in the developing countries is scarce. Objective: To assess the use of different classes of antidepressant medications in a tertiary hospital in Oman. Method: Data over four month period (January to April 2013) were retrieved retrospectively after obtaining ethical approval. Results: A total number of 1416 prescriptions were analyzed. Of these 880 (62.1%) were for females and 536 (37.9%) were for males. Tricyclic antidepressant (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin/ norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and mirtazapine accounted for 34.6%, 32.1%, 13.3% and 19.9% of prescriptions, respectively. Monotherapy accounted for 89.3% of prescriptions. The most used single antidepressant drug was amitriptyline (28.5%) followed by mirtazapine (19.9%) and paroxetine (17.9%). SSRIs, SNRIs and mirtazapine were mainly used for psychiatric conditions in 82.2%, 73.0% and 68.8% of the cases, respectively, while TCAs were mainly indicated (63.7%) for non-psychiatric conditions. Conclusion: Monotherapy antidepressant is the preferred mode of therapy with SSRIs and mirtazapine as first line therapy for depression which is consistent with therapeutic guidelines recommendations.
AB - Introduction: Antidepressants play a major role in managing depression and other conditions. The use of various classes of antidepressants varies from a country to another but information about the use of these agents in the developing countries is scarce. Objective: To assess the use of different classes of antidepressant medications in a tertiary hospital in Oman. Method: Data over four month period (January to April 2013) were retrieved retrospectively after obtaining ethical approval. Results: A total number of 1416 prescriptions were analyzed. Of these 880 (62.1%) were for females and 536 (37.9%) were for males. Tricyclic antidepressant (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin/ norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and mirtazapine accounted for 34.6%, 32.1%, 13.3% and 19.9% of prescriptions, respectively. Monotherapy accounted for 89.3% of prescriptions. The most used single antidepressant drug was amitriptyline (28.5%) followed by mirtazapine (19.9%) and paroxetine (17.9%). SSRIs, SNRIs and mirtazapine were mainly used for psychiatric conditions in 82.2%, 73.0% and 68.8% of the cases, respectively, while TCAs were mainly indicated (63.7%) for non-psychiatric conditions. Conclusion: Monotherapy antidepressant is the preferred mode of therapy with SSRIs and mirtazapine as first line therapy for depression which is consistent with therapeutic guidelines recommendations.
KW - Amitriptyline
KW - Antidepressants
KW - Depression
KW - Mirtazapine
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U2 - 10.4172/Psychiatry.1000163
DO - 10.4172/Psychiatry.1000163
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928154982
SN - 1994-8220
VL - 17
JO - African Journal of Psychiatry (South Africa)
JF - African Journal of Psychiatry (South Africa)
IS - 6
M1 - 1000163
ER -