Anticonvulsant Medication in a Mental Handicap Hospital: 1972–1982

• Published in: British journal of psychiatry 1987-04, Vol.150 (4), p.513-517
• Main Authors: Sheppard, L. C., Ballinger, B. R., Fenton, G. W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use; Anticonvulsants. Antiepileptics. Antiparkinson agents; Biological and medical sciences; Carbamazepine - therapeutic use; Female; Hospitals, Psychiatric - trends; Humans; Intellectual Disability - drug therapy; Male; Medical sciences; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phenobarbital - therapeutic use; Phenytoin - therapeutic use; Valproic Acid - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 0007-1250; 1472-1465
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.150.4.513

The prescription sheets for all patients in a mental handicap hospital on one day in 1972 and on the same date in 1982 were examined to identify trends in anticonvulsant medication over a 10-year period. There was a reduction in size of the hospital population associated with fewer very young and milder handicapped persons. Prescription of anticonvulsants fell slightly during the decade under study with a dramatic fall in the use of phenobarbitone, and a parallel increase in the prescription of carbamazepine. Other changes included the use of sodium valproate in a significant minority of patients and the occasional use of clonazepam in 1982, while phenytoin remained a first-rank anticonvulsant throughout the period under review. The proportions of patients on polytherapy did not change over the 10-year period, though the contribution of phenobarbitone to the combined drug regimes was significantly reduced.