Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-r2nwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-08T08:55:41.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors affecting the consumption of psychotropic drugs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. Murray ,
G. Dunn ,
P. Williams  and
A. Tarnopolsky
J. Murray*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
G. Dunn
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. Williams
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
A. Tarnopolsky
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Miss J. Murray, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

This paper presents some results from a survey conducted in West London in 1977. The 2-week prevalence of psychotropic drug consumption was found to be 10·9 %, an almost identical figure to that obtained in an earlier survey conducted 8 years previously. The reasons for the absence of the expected rise in prevalence of consumption are discussed.

Consumption was found to be strongly associated with various measures of health, and there was a marked sex difference in drug consumption (females > males) which was independent of health.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , August 1981 , pp. 551 - 560
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R. M. (1980). The use of repeatedly prescribed medicines. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 30, 609–613.Google ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. (1981). Prescribed medicines: who takes what? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (in the press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashton, W. D. (1972). The Logit Transformation. Griffin: London.Google Scholar
Baker, R. S. & Nelder, S. A. (1978). The GLIM System, Release 3: Generalised Linear Interactive Modelling. Royal Statistical Society: London.Google Scholar
Balter, M. B., Levine, J. & Manheimer, D. (1974 a). Cross national study of the extent of anti-anxiety/sedative drug use. New England Journal of Medicine 290, 769–774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balter, M. B., Levine, J. & Manheimer, D. (1974 b). Reply to Maronde and Silverman. New England Journal of Medicine 290, 1491.Google Scholar
Cartwright, A. (1980). Prescribing and the patient-doctor relationship. In Essays on Doctor-Patient Communication (ed. Hasler, J. and Pendleton, D.). Academic Press: London.Google Scholar
Cooperstock, R. (1971). Sex differences in the use of mood modifying drugs: an explanatory model. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 12, 238–244.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Central Statistical Office (1979). Annual Abstract of Statistics. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Cox, D. R. (1970). Analysis of Binary Data. Chapman & Hall: London.Google Scholar
Craig, T. J. & van, Natta P. A. (1978). Current medication use and symptoms of depression in a general population. American Journal of Psychiatry 135 (9), 1036–1039.Google ScholarPubMed
Department of Health and Social Security (1977). Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for England. Government Statistical Service. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Dunn, G. (1981). The role of linear models in psychiatric epidemiology. Psychological Medicine 11, 179–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunnell, K. & Cartwright, A. (1972). Medicine Takers, Prescribers and Hoarders. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London.Google Scholar
Farmer, R. D. J. & Harvey, P. G. (1975). Minor psychiatric disturbance in young adults. Social Science and Medicine 9, 467–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. P. (1972). The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire. Maudsley Monographs no. 21. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Harris, G., Latham, J., McGuinness, B. & Crisp, A. H. (1978). The relationship between psychoneurotic status and psychoactive drug prescription in general practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 27, 173–177.Google Scholar
Hesbacker, P., Rickels, K., Rial, W. Y., Segal, A. & Zamostein, B. B. (1976). Psychotropic drug prescription in a family practice. Comprehensive Psychiatry 17, 607–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddox, G. L. & Douglas, E. B. (1973). Self assessment of health: a longitudinal study of elderly subjects. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 14, 87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maronde, R. F. & Silverman, M. (1974). Drug use as determined by interviews (correspondence). New England Journal of Medicine 290, 1491.Google Scholar
Mellinger, G. D., Balter, M. B. & Manheimer, D. I. (1971). Patterns of psychotherapeutic drug use among adults in San Francisco. Archives of General Psychiatry 25, 385–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mellinger, G. D., Balter, M. B., Manheimer, D. I., Cisin, I. M. & Parry, H. J. (1978). Psychic distress, life crisis and the use of psychotherapeutic medicines. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 1045–1052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mindham, R. H. S., Howland, C. & Shepherd, M. (1973). An evaluation of continuation therapy with tricyclic antidepressants in depressive illness. Psychological Medicine 3, 5–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parish, P. A. (1971). The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in general practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 21, Suppl. 4, 1–77.Google ScholarPubMed
Parry, H. J., Balter, M. B. & Cisin, I. H. (1970). Primary levels of underreporting psychotropic drug use. Public Opinion Quarterly 34, 582–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parry, H. J., Balter, M. B., Mellinger, G. D., Cisin, I. H. & Manheimer, D. I. (1973). National patterns of psychotherapeutic drug use. Archives of General Psychiatry 28, 769–783.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skegg, D. G., Doll, R. & Perry, J. (1977). Use of medicines in general practice. British Medical Journal i, 1561–1563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarnopolsky, A. & Morton-Williams, J. (1980). Aircraft Noise and Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders. Social and Community Planning Research: London.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H., Balter, M. B. & Lipman, R. S. (1978). Minor tranquillizers – clinical correlates of use in an urban population. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 650–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White House Office of Drug Policy – National Institute on Drug Abuse (1979). FDA Drug Bulletin, no. 16.Google Scholar
Wilks, J. M. (1975). The use of psychotropic drugs in general practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 25, 731–744.Google ScholarPubMed
Williams, P. (1978). Physical ill health and psychotropic drug prescription: a review. Psychological Medicine 8, 683–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, P. (1979). The extent of psychotropic drug prescription. In Psychosocial Disorders in General Practice (ed. Williams, P. and Clare, A. W.), pp. 151–160. Academic Press: London.Google Scholar
Williams, P. (1980). Recent trends in the prescribing of psychotropic drugs. Health Trends 12, 6–7Google Scholar
Williams, P. & Courtenay, M. J. F. (1979). Physical morbidity and psychotropic drug prescription in general practice. Paper presented at 5th World Congress of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine,JerusalemSeptember, 1979.Google Scholar
Williams, P., Tarnopolsky, A. & Hand, D. J. (1980). Case definition and case identification in psychiatric epidemiology: overview and assessment. Psychological Medicine 10, 101–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar