Polypharmacy in psychiatry: A review

Psychiatric polypharmacy refers to the prescription of two or more psychiatric medications concurrently to a patient. It can be categorised as same-class, multi-class, adjunctive, augmentation and total polypharmacy. Despite advances in psychopharmacology and a better understanding of the principles...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mens sana monographs 2013-01, Vol.11 (1), p.82-99
Main Authors: Kukreja, Sanjay, Kalra, Gurvinder, Shah, Nilesh, Shrivastava, Amresh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Algorithms
Antidepressants
Attention deficit disorder
Drug dosages
Drug therapy
Evidence-based medicine
Mental disorders
Patients
Physicians
Prescription drugs
Psychiatry, Mental Health and Psychoanalysis
Psychotropic drugs
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Summary:Psychiatric polypharmacy refers to the prescription of two or more psychiatric medications concurrently to a patient. It can be categorised as same-class, multi-class, adjunctive, augmentation and total polypharmacy. Despite advances in psychopharmacology and a better understanding of the principles of therapeutics, its practice is increasing rapidly. The prevalence of polypharmacy in psychiatry varies between 13%-90%. There are various clinical and pharmaco-economic factors associated with it. Dealing with polypharmacy requires an understanding of its associated factors. Education, guidelines and algorithms for the appropriate management of various conditions are effective ways to avoid irrational polypharmacy.
ISSN:0973-1229
1998-4014
DOI:10.4103/0973-1229.104497