Abstract
Mood and anxiety disorders are leading causes of psychiatric hospitalization. However, data on real-world inpatient psychopharmacologic practices in the Philippines are limited. This study aims to describe the clinical characteristics and psychotropic medication prescribing patterns among inpatients with mood and anxiety disorders at a tertiary private hospital in the Philippines. This retrospective descriptive study reviewed medical records of patients admitted to the Section of Psychiatry at Makati Medical Center from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017. Patients with a primary DSM-5 diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), or anxiety disorder (AD) were included. Demographic and clinical characteristics, suicidality, and psychotropic prescribing patterns were summarized using descriptive statistics. A total of 705 patients were included: 350 (49.6%) with BD, 301 (42.7%) with MDD, and 54 (7.7%) with AD. Depressed mood was the most common presentation at admission (58.6%), and 72.2% of patients were euthymic at discharge. Suicide attempts were documented in more than half of patients with available data. Valproate, quetiapine, clonazepam, and aripiprazole were the most frequently prescribed medications for BD. In MDD, clonazepam, escitalopram, quetiapine, and aripiprazole predominated, while clonazepam and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were most commonly used in AD. Polypharmacy was frequent across diagnostic groups. Psychopharmacologic management of hospitalized patients with mood and anxiety disorders in this Philippine tertiary center largely aligns with international practice. High rates of polypharmacy and suicidality underscore the need for optimized, evidence-based prescribing and longitudinal outcome studies.
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