Prescribing of psychotropic medication by primary care physicians and psychiatrists
R. S. Beardsley, G. J. Gardocki, D. B. Larson and J. Hidalgo
School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201.
This study investigates the prescribing of psychotropic medications by
primary care physicians and psychiatrists using the National Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey database. Results indicate that primary care
practitioners provide a larger percentage of psychotropic drug visits than
psychiatrists in every psychotropic class except for those patients
prescribed lithium. In addition, the two provider groups differed in the
relative proportions of the classes of psychotropic drugs prescribed.
Primary care physicians prescribed anxiolytics most frequently, while
psychiatrists prescribed antidepressants most often. Finally, in all
therapeutic classes, when a psychotropic medication was prescribed,
psychiatrists typically provided a mental health diagnosis, while primary
care physicians did not.
