AIMS: To present the results of an epidemiologic research about psychotropic drug use in Sardinia. METHODS: Cross-sectional study on a sample of 1040 subjects randomly selected from registers. SETTING: Community survey on three areas of Sardinia region. EVALUATION: Interviews carried out by physicians by means of Italian version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Simplified. Drug consumption was evaluated concerning last week before the interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Point prevalence. RESULTS: The rate of adults of the general population that consumed benzodiazepines was 10.1%, antidepressants 4.2%, 14.7% of the sample was using psychotropic drugs. 60% of subjects with diagnosis of ICD-10 Depressive Episod did not have the right pharmacologic treatment. A relevant proportion of subjects without lifetime psychiatric diagnosis (anxiety and/or depression) used antidepressants (0.8%). The pharmacologic therapies were managed by psychiatrics in 44.2% of cases, antidepressants were managed by general practitioners in 31.8% of subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The research underlines an increase of meet needs in subjects affected by depressive episodes against a previous Sardinian survey carried out over ten years ago. This change is parallel to a more frequent management of therapies by general practitioners. Their role seems to become more relevant in treating depressive illness.
AIMS: To present the results of an epidemiologic research about psychotropic drug use in Sardinia. METHODS: Cross-sectional study on a sample of 1040 subjects randomly selected from registers. SETTING: Community survey on three areas of Sardinia region. EVALUATION: Interviews carried out by physicians by means of Italian version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Simplified. Drug consumption was evaluated concerning last week before the interview. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Point prevalence. RESULTS: The rate of adults of the general population that consumed benzodiazepines was 10.1%, antidepressants 4.2%, 14.7% of the sample was using psychotropic drugs. 60% of subjects with diagnosis of ICD-10 Depressive Episod did not have the right pharmacologic treatment. A relevant proportion of subjects without lifetime psychiatric diagnosis (anxiety and/or depression) used antidepressants (0.8%). The pharmacologic therapies were managed by psychiatrics in 44.2% of cases, antidepressants were managed by general practitioners in 31.8% of subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The research underlines an increase of meet needs in subjects affected by depressive episodes against a previous Sardinian survey carried out over ten years ago. This change is parallel to a more frequent management of therapies by general practitioners. Their role seems to become more relevant in treating depressive illness.
Authors: Mauro Giovanni Carta; Eugenio Aguglia; Alberto Bocchetta; Matteo Balestrieri; Filippo Caraci; Massimo Casacchia; Liliana Dell'osso; Guido Di Sciascio; Filippo Drago; Carlo Faravelli; Maria Efisia Lecca; Maria Francesca Moro; Pier Luigi Morosini; Marcello Nardini; Gabriella Palumbo; Maria Carolina Hardoy Journal: Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health Date: 2010-08-27