Abstract

Introduction: Drug utilization patterns vary depending on factors such as patient demographics, prevalent diseases, cultural influences, socioeconomic status, drug availability, and physician prescribing habits. However, understanding their real-world usage, efficacy, and safety requires ongoing research. There is a growing concern about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and their impact on public health, emphasizing the need for judicious prescribing of psychotropic medications.Therefore, our objective was to examine the drug prescribing trends across different psychiatric conditions. Methodology: We conducted a prospective observational study over four months at a psychiatric outpatient department, analyzing medical records of 345 patients to assess prescription patterns. We employed the World Health Organization drug indicators for analysis. Results: Among the patients studied, the majority fell within the 20–40 age group. Depression was the most common psychiatric disorder followed by anxiety. Antidepressants were the most frequently prescribed psychotropic drugs, followed by anxiolytics. On average, 1.9 psychotropic drugs were prescribed per patient. Conclusion: Antidepressants emerged as the predominant psychotropic medications prescribed, with a notable preference for generic drugs in our study population..

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