Publication:

Efficacy evaluation of antidepressant drugs utilized at tertiary care centre in North Karnataka in psychiatric outpatient department

Background Depression is the major psychotic disorder affecting 9.5% of population worldwide. Present study investigates the prescribing patterns of different antidepressants evaluating their efficacy.

Methods This was a prospective, observational study which was conducted in the out-patient department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology in Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi. A total of 200 cases were enrolled for the present study. Statistical analysis for efficacy was done using Wilcoxson’s signed rank test.

Results Predominantly, females suffered from depression when compared to male counterparts. In our study, monotherapy was practiced more frequently than polytherapy with 2 or more drugs. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Escitalopram was found out to be the most widely used antidepressant drug.

Conclusions Among antidepressant medications, SSRIs are preferred over others because of their better side effect profile.