Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar.
<h4>Objective</h4>Even though all guidelines recommend generally against antipsychotic polypharmacy, antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be a very common practice across the globe. This study aimed to examine the prescription patterns of antipsychotics in Qatar, in comparison with the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241986 |
| _version_ | 1818579777534033920 |
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| author | Sami Ouanes Imen Becetti Suhaila Ghuloum Samer Hammoudeh Mena Shehata Hany Ghabrash Areej Yehya Hawra Al-Lawati Nora Al-Fakhri Huma Iram Nighat Ajmal Yassin Eltorki Hassen Al-Amin |
| author_facet | Sami Ouanes Imen Becetti Suhaila Ghuloum Samer Hammoudeh Mena Shehata Hany Ghabrash Areej Yehya Hawra Al-Lawati Nora Al-Fakhri Huma Iram Nighat Ajmal Yassin Eltorki Hassen Al-Amin |
| author_sort | Sami Ouanes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Objective</h4>Even though all guidelines recommend generally against antipsychotic polypharmacy, antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be a very common practice across the globe. This study aimed to examine the prescription patterns of antipsychotics in Qatar, in comparison with the international guidelines, and to scrutinize the sociodemographic and clinical features associated with antipsychotic polypharmacy.<h4>Methods</h4>All the medical records of all the inpatients and outpatients treated by antipsychotics at the Department of Psychiatry-Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Doha, Qatar (between October 2012 and April 2014) were retrospectively analyzed. We retrieved the available sociodemographic data, psychiatric features, and details on the medication history.<h4>Results</h4>Our sample consisted of 537 individuals on antipsychotics (2/3 were male; mean age 33.8±10.2 years), prescribed for a psychotic disorder in 57%, a mood disorder in 9.3%, and various other diagnoses in 33.7%. About 55.9% received one antipsychotic, 29.6% received two antipsychotics, and 14.5% received more than two antipsychotics. Polypharmacy was associated with younger age (p = 0.025), being single (p<0.001), the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder (p<0.001), and previous admissions to psychiatry (p<0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be quite common in Qatar, as it is the case in many other countries, in contrast with most international recommendations. Studies are needed to explore the reasons behind this disparity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:07:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bf0865c7ac4b4d4d8584b668427ea0b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:07:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-bf0865c7ac4b4d4d8584b668427ea0b62022-12-21T22:40:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-011511e024198610.1371/journal.pone.0241986Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar.Sami OuanesImen BecettiSuhaila GhuloumSamer HammoudehMena ShehataHany GhabrashAreej YehyaHawra Al-LawatiNora Al-FakhriHuma IramNighat AjmalYassin EltorkiHassen Al-Amin<h4>Objective</h4>Even though all guidelines recommend generally against antipsychotic polypharmacy, antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be a very common practice across the globe. This study aimed to examine the prescription patterns of antipsychotics in Qatar, in comparison with the international guidelines, and to scrutinize the sociodemographic and clinical features associated with antipsychotic polypharmacy.<h4>Methods</h4>All the medical records of all the inpatients and outpatients treated by antipsychotics at the Department of Psychiatry-Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Doha, Qatar (between October 2012 and April 2014) were retrospectively analyzed. We retrieved the available sociodemographic data, psychiatric features, and details on the medication history.<h4>Results</h4>Our sample consisted of 537 individuals on antipsychotics (2/3 were male; mean age 33.8±10.2 years), prescribed for a psychotic disorder in 57%, a mood disorder in 9.3%, and various other diagnoses in 33.7%. About 55.9% received one antipsychotic, 29.6% received two antipsychotics, and 14.5% received more than two antipsychotics. Polypharmacy was associated with younger age (p = 0.025), being single (p<0.001), the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder (p<0.001), and previous admissions to psychiatry (p<0.001).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be quite common in Qatar, as it is the case in many other countries, in contrast with most international recommendations. Studies are needed to explore the reasons behind this disparity.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241986 |
| spellingShingle | Sami Ouanes Imen Becetti Suhaila Ghuloum Samer Hammoudeh Mena Shehata Hany Ghabrash Areej Yehya Hawra Al-Lawati Nora Al-Fakhri Huma Iram Nighat Ajmal Yassin Eltorki Hassen Al-Amin Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. PLoS ONE |
| title | Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. |
| title_full | Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. |
| title_fullStr | Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. |
| title_short | Patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in Qatar. |
| title_sort | patterns of prescription of antipsychotics in qatar |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241986 |
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