Utilization of antidepressant drugs at outpatient pharmacy unit of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang / Wan Nur Anis Wan Mohammad Saupi

This retrospective study was mainly designed to determine utilization of antidepressant drugs in Outpatient Pharmacy Unit of HT AR and to compare doses prescribed to the patients with the guideline and other references. 9114 prescriptions issued in December 2014 were analyzed and only 230 prescriptions fulfilled the inclusion criterias. Most of the antidepressant drugs prescribed to the patients were from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class with 66.5% followed atypical antidepressant, selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) and monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). Majority of depressed patients were below 65 years old which is 85.2%. Almost 85.9% physicians prescribed antidepressant drugs within the guideline and other references such as British National Formulary, Drug Information Handbook and Malaysian's Clinical Practice Guideline of Major Depressive Disorder. Other than that, most of the antidepressant drugs prescribed to the patients by physician were using brand name instead of generic name. As a conclusion, majority of the antidepressant drugs prescribed to the patients were from SSRI class and the doses prescribed followed the guideline and other references.