METHODS: This cross-sectional survey across 15 Asian countries/territories collected socio-demographic and clinical data with standardized procedures between March and May 2016. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded with a standardized questionnaire.
RESULTS: Altogether 3,537 adult patients with schizophrenia were consecutively screened and enrolled in the survey. The mean age was 38.66 ± 11.55 years and 59.7% of the sample were male. The mean dose of antipsychotics in chlorpromazine equivalents (CPZeq) was 424 ± 376 mg/day; 31.3% and 80.8% received first- and second- generation antipsychotics, respectively and 42.6% had antipsychotic polypharmacy, 11.7% had antidepressants, 13.7% had mood stabilizers, 27.8% had benzodiazepines, and 45.6% had anticholinergics.
CONCLUSIONS: Psychotropic prescription patterns in Asian adult patients with schizophrenia varied across countries. Regular surveys on psychotropic medications for schizophrenia are important to monitor pharmacotherapy practice in Asia.
METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the database of a multicentre study which recorded participants' basic demographical and clinical data in standardised format in 10 Asian countries and territories. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.
RESULTS: A total of 955 older adult psychiatric in- and outpatients were included in this study. The proportion of concurrent AP and AD use was 32.0%, ranging from 23.3% in Korea to 44.0% in Taiwan. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that younger age, inpatient status and diagnosis of schizophrenia, anxiety and other mental disorders were significantly related to a higher proportion of concurrent use of APs and ADs.
CONCLUSION: Around a third of older adult psychiatric patients had concurrent AP and AD use in the Asian countries/regions surveyed. Considering the uncertain effectiveness and questionable safety of the AP and AD combination in this patient population, such should be cautiously used.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Faculty of Dentistry, Melaka-Manipal Medical College among 3(rd) and 4(th) year BDS students. A total of 145 dental students, who consented, participate in the study. Students were divided into 14 groups. Nine online sessions followed by nine face-to-face discussions were held. Each session addressed topics related to oral lesions and orofacial pain with pharmacological applications. After each week, students were asked to reflect on blended learning. On completion of 9 weeks, reflections were collected and analyzed.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Qualitative analysis was done using thematic analysis model suggested by Braun and Clarke.
RESULTS: The four main themes were identified, namely, merits of blended learning, skill in writing prescription for oral diseases, dosages of drugs, and identification of strengths and weakness. In general, the participants had a positive feedback regarding blended learning. Students felt more confident in drug selection and prescription writing. They could recollect the doses better after the online and face-to-face sessions. Most interestingly, the students reflected that they are able to identify their strength and weakness after the blended learning sessions.
CONCLUSIONS: Blended learning module was successfully implemented for reinforcing dental pharmacology. The results obtained in this study enable us to plan future comparative studies to know the effectiveness of blended learning in dental pharmacology.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, data were extracted from the pharmacy database of University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) responsible for dispensing records of patients stored in the pharmacy's Medication Management and Use System (Ascribe). We analyzed the use of psychotropics in patients from the oncology ward and cardiology from 2008 to 2012. Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity.
RESULTS: A total of 3,345 oncology patients and 8,980 cardiology patients were included. Oncology patients were significantly more often prescribed psychotropic drugs (adjusted OR: anxiolytic/hypnotic=5.55 (CI: 4.64-6.63); antidepressants=6.08 (CI: 4.83-7.64) and antipsychotics=5.41 (CI: 4.17-7.02). Non-Malay female cancer patients were at significantly higher risk of anxiolytic/hypnotic use.
CONCLUSIONS: Psychotropic drugs prescription is common in cancer patients. Anxiolytic/hypnotic prescription rates are significantly higher in non-Malay female patients in Malaysia.
METHODS: Within an extensive research consortium, we evaluated prescription rates for first- (FGA) and second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) LAI drugs and their clinical correlates among 3557 subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia across 15 Asian countries and region.
RESULTS: Overall, an average of 17.9% (638/3557; range: 0.0%-44.9%) of treated subjects were prescribed LAI antipsychotics. Those given LAI vs orally administered agents were significantly older, had multiple hospitalizations, received multiple antipsychotics more often, at 32.4% higher doses, were more likely to manifest disorganized behavior or aggression, had somewhat superior psychosocial functioning and less negative symptoms, but were more likely to be hospitalized, with higher BMI, and more tremor. Being prescribed an FGA vs SGA LAI agent was associated with male sex, aggression, disorganization, hospitalization, multiple antipsychotics, higher doses, with similar risks of adverse neurological or metabolic effects. Rates of use of LAI antipsychotic drugs to treat patients diagnosed with schizophrenia varied by more than 40-fold among Asian countries and given to an average of 17.9% of treated schizophrenia patients. We identified the differences in the clinical profiles and treatment characteristics of patients who were receiving FGA-LAI and SGA-LAI medications.
DISCUSSION: These findings behoove clinicians to be mindful when evaluating patients' need to be on LAI antipsychotics amidst multifaceted considerations, especially downstream adverse events such as metabolic and extrapyramidal side effects.
METHODS: Using data from the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants (REAP-AD), the network of the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for depressive episode was estimated from 1174 Asian patients with depressive disorders. The node strength centrality of all ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode was estimated using a community-detection algorithm. In addition, networks of depressive symptoms were estimated separately among East Asian patients and South or Southeast Asian patients. Moreover, networks were estimated separately among Asian patients from high-income countries and those from middle-income countries.
RESULTS: Persistent sadness, fatigue, and loss of interest were the most centrally situated within the network of depressive symptoms in Asian patients with depressive disorders overall. A community-detection algorithm estimated that when excluding psychomotor disturbance as an outlier, the other nine symptoms formed the largest clinically meaningful cluster. Geographic and economic variations in networks of depressive symptoms were evaluated.
CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that the typical symptoms of the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for depressive episode are the most centrally situated within the network of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, our findings suggested that cultural influences related to geographic and economic distributions of participants could influence the estimated depressive symptom network in Asian patients with depressive disorders.