IJSR International Journal of Scientific Research 2277 - 8179 Indian Society for Health and Advanced Research ijsr-9-3-24541 Original Research Paper Prescribing pattern of antidepressant drugs in tertiary care teaching hospital, Haldwani Chavi Jain Dr. Dr Reena Bhardwaj Dr. Dr Renu Khanchandani Dr. March 2020 9 3 01 02 ABSTRACT

Background: The objective was to study the prescribing pattern of antidepressants in psychiatric unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital, Haldwani Methods: An observational study of 205 patients was carried out at psychiatry outpatient and inpatient department. Results: Among 205 patients, most commonly prescribed antidepressant was paroxetine. Among concomitant drugs, clonazepam (74.6%) were most commonly prescribed followed by olanzepine (5.4%) and paracetamol (3.9%). According to the WHO core prescribing pattern, average number of drugs per encounter was 2.02 and the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was 95.2%. Conclusion: Paroxetine is more commonly used followed by escitalopram and fluoxetine. Most common concomitant drug prescribed was clonazepam. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are preferred over other antidepressant because of their relative lesser side effects