Adverse drug reaction status and relationship of adrs with age and sex of the patients on anti-psychotic drugs in out-patient department of a psychiatry hospital in kashmir; a prospective observational study

Adverse effects are usually dose dependent and can be influenced by patient characteristics including age and gender and these confounding factors should be considered in clinical practice and in the interpretation of research data .Antipsychotic drugs are a great benefit in treatment of various psychiatric disorders. Selection of an antipsychotic drug should be an individual patient basis. Their use is increasing day by day, but all of them are capable of causing a wide range of potential adverse effects. Current study was carried out with the aim to look into the ADR status in patients according to antipsychotic drugs used and their relationship with age and sex of the patients. It was a prospective observational study conducted over a period of one year in Out-Patient department of Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHNS), Government Medical College Srinagar. Causality assessment was done using WHO-UMC scale and Naranjo’s Scale while severity by using modified Hartwig and Siegel scale. Chi-square test was used to test for the independence of two categorical variables. Psychiatrists and other health care professionals treating psychiatric patients should have a good knowledge about possible ADRs following antipsychotic medication and thus keep an active vigil to prevent and treat such ADRs so as to improve patients quality of life. The establishment of an active pharmacovigilance programme is hence an essential requirement to any health institute.