Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T03:03:42.267Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Physical ill-health and psychotropic drug prescription – a review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Paul Williams*
Affiliation:
General Practice Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Paul Williams, General Practice Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.

Synopsis

This review collates evidence of substantial physical morbidity in patients who receive psychotropic drugs, and evidence that these drugs are not infrequently prescribed for patients with known physical illness. Minor tranquillizers are the psychotropic drugs most commonly prescribed, and the category of physical illness most likely to be associated with psychotropic medication is cardiovascular disease.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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

Adams, B. C., Horder, E. J., Horder, J. P., Modell, M., Steen, C. A. & Wigg, J. W. (1966). Patients receiving barbiturates in an urban general practice. Journal of the College of General Practitioners 12, 2431.Google Scholar
Allgulander, C. (1978). Dependence on sedative and hypnotic drugs. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Suppl. 270.Google Scholar
Balter, M. B. & Levine, J. (1969). The nature and extent of psychotropic drug usage in the United States. Psychopharmacology Bulletin 5 (4), 313.Google ScholarPubMed
Baron, S. H. & Fisher, S. (1962). Use of psychotropic drug prescriptions in a prepaid group practice plan. Public Health Reports 77, 871888.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, J. M., Reeder, L. G., Massey, F. J., Borun, E. R., Picken, B., Browning, G. W., Coulson, A. H. & Zimmerman, D. H. (1966). Relationships of stress, tranquillizers and serum cholesterol levels in a sample population under study for coronary heart disease. American Journal of Epidemiology 83, 537547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooperstock, R. (1974). Some factors in the increased prescribing of psychotropic drugs. In Social Aspects of the Medical Use of Psychotropic Drugs (ed. Cooperstock, R.), pp. 2134. Addiction Research Foundation: Toronto.Google Scholar
Davidson, J. R. T., Raft, D., Lewis, B. F. & Gebhardt, M. (1975). Psychotropic drugs on general medical and surgical wards of a teaching hospital. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 507511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Department of Health and Social Security (1977). Health and Personal Social Service Statistics for England, 1977. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Eastwood, M. R. & Trevelyan, M. H. (1971). Stress and coronary heart disease. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 15, 289292.Google Scholar
Eastwood, M. R. & Trevelyan, M. H. (1972). Relationship between physical and psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine 2, 363372.Google Scholar
Fejer, D. & Smart, R. (1973). The use of psychoactive drugs by adults. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal 18, 313320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gottschalk, C. A., Bates, D. E., Fox, R. A. & James, J. M. (1971). Psychoactive drug use. Archives of General Psychiatry 25, 395397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenblatt, D. J., Shader, R. I. & Koch-Weser, J. (1975). Psychotropic drug use in the Boston area. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 518521.Google Scholar
Groen, J. J. (1977). Psychosomatic aspects of ischaemic heart disease. In Modern Trends in Psychosomatic Medicine vol. 3 (ed. Hill, O. W.), pp. 288329. Butterworths: London.Google Scholar
Hemminki, E. (1974 a). General practitioner indications for psychotropic drugs. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine 2, 7985.Google Scholar
Hemminki, E. (1974 b). Diseases leading to psychotropic drug therapy. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine 2, 129134.Google Scholar
Hemminki, E. (1975). Review of the literature on the factors affecting drug prescribing. Social Science and Medicine 9, 111115.Google Scholar
Hinkle, L. E., Christiansen, W. N., Kane, F. D., Ostfield, A., Thetford, W. N. & Wolff, H. G. (1958). An investigation of the relationship between life experience, personality characteristics and general susceptibility to illness. Psychosomatic Medicine 20, 278295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. & Clift, A. D. (1968). Dependence on hypnotic drugs in general practice. British Medical Journal iv, 613615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenyon, F. E. (1976). Hypochondriacal states. British Journal of Psychiatry 129, 114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, R. K. (1970). A survey of outpatient prescribing. Guy's Hospital Reports 119, 275287.Google Scholar
Lasagna, L. (1977). The role of benzodiazepines in non-psychiatric medical practice. American Journal of Psychiatry 134, 656658.Google Scholar
Linn, L. S. & Davies, M. S. (1971). The use of psychotherapeutic drugs by middle-aged women. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 12, 331340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lloyd, G. (1973). Withdrawal of prescriptions for amphetamines. British Medical Journal i, 101103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, G. P. & Granville-Grossman, K. L. (1968). Physical illness in psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry 114, 13651369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marinker, M. (1973). The doctor's role in prescribing. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 23, Suppl. 2, 2630.Google ScholarPubMed
Munro, A. (1969). Psychiatric illness in gynaecological outpatients. British Journal of Psychiatry 115, 807809.Google Scholar
Parish, P. A. (1971). The prescribing of psychotropic drugs in general practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 21, Suppl. 4, 177.Google Scholar
Parry, H. J., Balter, M. B., Mellinger, G. B., Cisin, I. H. & Manheimer, D. I. (1973). National patterns of psychotherapeutic drug use. Archives of General Psychiatry 28, 769783.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pflanz, M., Basler, H.-D. & Schwoon, D. (1977). Use of tranquillizing drugs by a middle-aged population in a West German city. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 18, 194205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainsbury, P. (1960). Psychosomatic disorders and neurosis in outpatients attending a general hospital. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 4, 261273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shapiro, S. & Baron, S. H. (1961). Prescriptions for psychotropic drugs in a non-institutional population. Public Health Reports 76, 481488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, M. (1972). The classification of psychotropic drugs. Psychological Medicine 2, 96110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shepherd, M., Davies, B. & Culpan, R. (1960). Psychiatric illness in the general hospital. Acta Psychiatrica et Neuro-logica Scandinavica 35, 518525.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M., Cooper, B., Brown, A. C. & Kalton, G. W. (1966). Psychiatric Illness in General Practice. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Solow, C. (1975). Psychotropic drugs in somatic disorder. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 6, 267282.Google Scholar
Stevenson, P. & Gaskell, P. G. (1971). The prescribing of hypnotics in an urban practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 21, 529534.Google Scholar
Wilks, J. M. (1975). The use of psychotropic drugs in general practice. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 25, 731744.Google ScholarPubMed