Pharmacovigilance study in psychiatry out-patient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Adverse drug reactions are important in psychiatry practice like any other branch of medicine. Adverse drug reactions associated with psychotropic drugs causes either noncompliance or at times discontinuation of therapy. The objective of the study was to evaluate the incidence and nature of adverse drug reactions in psychiatry outpatient department and to assess the causality and severity of the documented adverse drug reactions.Methods: Prospective observational study was done in the psychiatry outpatient department. All the patients were interviewed for basic details, history of medications and relevant history for adverse drug reactions. The causality, severity and modes of management assessment of the documented adverse drug reactions were done.Results: 2,727 patients attended psychiatry outpatient department, of which 582 patients developed at least one adverse drug reaction. The incidence of adverse drug reaction observed to psychotropic drugs was 21.34%. Majority of adverse drug reactions were seen with antidepressants 298 (10.93%) followed by antipsychotics 187 (6.86%), sedative hypnotics, anticonvulsants and antimanics. The most common adverse drug reactions were sedation 3.44%, weight gain 3.04%, and extrapyramidal symptoms 2.79%. Reported adverse drug reactions were assessed for causality and maximum belonged to probable (15.6 9%). The severity assessment of the reported adverse drug reactions revealed that most of the adverse drug reactions were mild (16.83%) in nature and majority of patients were made to continue the same treatment.Conclusions: Active monitoring of adverse drug reactions in psychiatry outpatient department can help in early detection and management of adverse drug reactions