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Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic, and other psychotropic medication use to treat psychiatric symptoms in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of adult psychotropic medication use in São Paulo, Brazil. Information on lifetime and 12-month psychotropic medication use, and psychiatric status was obtained from a representative sample of 2000 adults aged 18-65 years in São Paulo, Brazil. Lifetime and 12-month use of psychotropic medications was 16.8 and 7.1%, respectively. Of the 22.8% of patients with current psychiatric problems, 29.5% reported lifetime use and 15.8% (5.6% of the sample) reported 12-month use (anxiolytics: 2.7%, antidepressants: 1.8%, alternative medicines: 0.9%, antipsychotics: 0.4%, mood stabilizers: 0.4%, hypnotics: 0.3%; multiple class use occurred). The most frequent prescribers were psychiatrists and general practitioners. Determinants of use included identification as a psychiatric case (four-fold increased odds), being female (three-fold increase), age (4-5% per additional year), and lower odds if married. Education, employment status, and birth in São Paulo were not associated with use. Income did not affect anxiolytic use, but antidepressant and alternative medicine use was associated with higher income. These results show that psychotropic drug use was comparatively low. Only 15.8% of patients with psychiatric problems reported recent psychotropic use. Comparable with other studies, use was greater among women and increased with age.

SUBMITTER: Blay SL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3969784 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic, and other psychotropic medication use to treat psychiatric symptoms in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Blay Sergio L SL Fillenbaum Gerda G GG Pitta José C JC Peluso Erica T ET

International clinical psychopharmacology 20140501 3

The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and characteristics of adult psychotropic medication use in São Paulo, Brazil. Information on lifetime and 12-month psychotropic medication use, and psychiatric status was obtained from a representative sample of 2000 adults aged 18-65 years in São Paulo, Brazil. Lifetime and 12-month use of psychotropic medications was 16.8 and 7.1%, respectively. Of the 22.8% of patients with current psychiatric problems, 29.5% reported lifetime use and ...[more]

PMID: 24172159

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Project description:To estimate the prevalence of one month psychotropic drug use in São Paulo, Brazil, and to assess the gap treatment between the presence of mental disorders and psychotropic drug users.A probabilistic sample of non-institutionalized individuals from the general population of São Paulo (n = 2336; turnout: 84.5%) who were 15 years or older were interviewed by a trained research staff, applying the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 2.1 (CIDI WHO) (depression, anxiety-phobia, OCD\PTSD, alcoholism sections), and an inventory investigating psychotropic drug use during the 12-month and one-month periods immediately preceding the interview. Logistic models were fitted to investigate associations between psychotropic drug use as well as socio-demographic and clinical variables.The one month prevalence of psychotropic drug use in São Paulo was 5.89%, the most commonly used drugs were antidepressants (3.15%) and tranquilizers (2.67%). A higher consumption of psychotropic drugs (overall, antidepressants and tranquilizers) was observed among women (OR:2.42), older individuals (OR:1.04), individuals with higher levels of formal education (1.06), and individuals with a family (OR:2.29) or personal history of mental illness (OR:3.27). The main psychotropic drug prescribers were psychiatrists (41%), followed by general practitioners (30%); 60% of psychotropic drugs were obtained through a government-run dispensing program. Most individuals who obtained a positive diagnosis on the CIDI 2.1 during the previous month were not using psychotropic medication (85%). Among individuals with a diagnosis of moderate to severe depression, 67.5% were not on any pharmacological treatment.There is a change in the type of psychotropic more often used in São Paulo, from benzodiazepines to antidepressants, this event is observed in different cultures. The prevalence of use is similar to other developing countries. Most of the patients presenting a psychiatric illness in the month prior to testing were not receiving any sort of psychiatric medication. This may be explained by a failure to identify cases in primary care, which could be improved (and access to treatment could be facilitated) if professionals received more specialized training in managing cases with mental health problems.

Dataset Information

Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic, and other psychotropic medication use to treat psychiatric symptoms in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Publications

Factors associated with antidepressant, anxiolytic, and other psychotropic medication use to treat psychiatric symptoms in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

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