Clinical use of mood stabilizers with antidepressants in Asia: Report from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants (REAP-AD) Projects in 2004 and 2013

Rajaratnam K 1 , Xiang YT , Tripathi A , Chiu HF , Si TM , Chee KY Show all authors , Avasthi A , Grover S , Chong MY , Kuga H , Kanba S , He YL , Lee MS , Yang SY , Udomratn P , Kallivayalil RA , Tanra AJ , Maramis MM , Shen WW , Sartorius N , Kua EH , Tan CH , Mahendran R , Shinfuku N , Sum MY , Baldessarini RJ , Sim K

Affiliations 

  • 1 From the *Department of General Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore; †Unit of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao SAR, China; ‡Department of Psychiatry, King George's Medical University, Chowk, Lucknow, India; §Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; and ∥National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & the Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Peking University Institute of Mental Health (the Sixth Hospital), Beijing, China; ¶Department of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Tunku Abdul Rahman Institute of Neurosciences, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; #Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India; **Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center and School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taiwan; ††Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan; ‡‡Department of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China; §§Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea; ∥∥Department of Pharmacy, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; ¶¶Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand; ##Department of Psychiatry, Pushpagiri Medical College, Thiruvalla, India; ***Department of Psychiatry, Hasanuddin University Faculty of Medicine, Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan; and †††Dr Soetomo Hospital - Faculty of Medicine, Airlangga University, Jawa Timur, Indonesia; ‡‡‡Departments of Psychiatry, TMU-Wan Fang Medical Center and School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan; §§§Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programmes, Geneva, Switzerland; Departments of ∥∥∥Psychological Medicine and ¶¶¶Pharmacology, National University of Singapore, Singapore; ###International Center for Medical Research, Kobe University School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan; ****Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore; ††††International Consortium for Mood & Psychotic Disorder Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont; and ‡‡‡‡Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
J Clin Psychopharmacol, 2017 Apr;37(2):255-259.
PMID: 28146001 DOI: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000000670

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: As most reports concerning treatment with combinations of mood stabilizer (MS) with antidepressant (AD) drugs are based in the West, we surveyed characteristics of such cotreatment in 42 sites caring for the mentally ill in 10 Asian countries.
METHODS: This cross-sectional, pharmacoepidemiologic study used 2004 and 2013 data from the REAP-AD (Research Study on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants) to evaluate the rates and doses of MSs given with ADs and associated factors in 4164 psychiatric patients, using standard bivariate methods followed by multivariable logistic regression modeling.
RESULTS: Use of MS + AD increased by 104% (5.5% to 11.2%) between 2004 and 2013 and was much more associated with diagnosis of bipolar disorder than major depression or anxiety disorder, as well as with hospitalization > outpatient care, psychiatric > general-medical programs, and young age (all P < 0.001), but not with country, sex, or AD dose.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide a broad picture of contemporary use of MSs with ADs in Asia, support predictions that such treatment increased in recent years, and was associated with diagnosis of bipolar disorder, treatment in inpatient and psychiatric settings, and younger age.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

MeSH terms
Similar publications