Over the past two decades there has been a large increase in the number of patients prescribed psychotropic medications. Many of these agents are associated with QTc prolongation which is considered a marker for increased risk of sudden cardiac death due to malignant arrhythmias such as Torsades de pointes (TdP). Psychotropics rarely lead to sudden death in healthy individuals on a single QTc p...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing the prescribing of psychotropic medication by general practitioners (GPs) to nursing home residents with dementia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS GPs with experience in nursing homes were recruited through professional body newsletter advertising, while 1,000 randomly selected GPs from southeastern Australia were invited to participate...

There is an increased prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in dermatologic disorders. However, these are often underrecognized and undertreated contributing to suboptimal adherence therapeutic outcomes. A working knowledge psychotropic medications their use dermatology essential for comprehensive management psychodermatological conditions. The present review provides a framework agents dermatolog...

This study examined (1) the prevalence of psychotropic medication use for a sample of children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs), (2) the extent to which psychotropic agents were linked to targeted symptoms, and (3) predictors of psychotropic use. A total of 115 children, ages 6-13, with HFASDs who were enrolled in psychosocial treatment trials were included in this study...

Background and Objectives: The expanding field of psychopharmacology is constantly seeking new and improved drugs to treat psychiatric disorders. Although psychotropic drugs have had a remarkable impact in psychiatry, their utilization, effectiveness, and side effects in the in clinical practice need continuous study. The present study was thus designed to analyze the pattern of psychotropic dr...

Mortality rate is high in psychiatric patients versus general population. An important cause of this increased mortality is sudden cardiac death (SCD) as a major side-effect of psychotropic drugs. These SCDs generally result from arrhythmias occurring when the posology is high and may attain a toxic threshold but also at dosages within therapeutic range, in the presence of risk factors. There a...

background: poisoning incidents, in both children and adolescents, are known to occur in new zealand but little is known about the agents implicated.   methods: all the calls received over the ten years between 2000 and 2009, by the national poison centre in new zealand, were retrospectively reviewed. calls related to cases involving those less than 19 years were included. the data were analyze...

The prevalence of bipolar disorder (BD) in males and females is almost equal. The onset of BD in females typically occurs during the reproductive years, complicating its treatment. Although it was once believed that pregnancy prevents recurrence, studies have shown that recurrence is common and severe during pregnancy. On the other hand, the effects of pharmacological treatment on obstetrical o...