RESUMEN
Psychotropic drugs prescriptions for patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics were studied. Of the 52,168 prescriptions written in 1996, 18,265 were systematically, randomly selected and evaluated. Incomplete prescriptions were found; the data missing included duration of treatment [18.75%], sex [9.25%], age [8.75%] and diagnosis [7.50%]. Antipsychotics [33.1%], antidepressants [23.2%], anticholinergics [22.0%] and anticonvulsants [12.9%] were the most frequently prescribed drugs. Polypharmacy [85%] was the predominant mode of practice. The most common diagnoses were mood [23.1%], anxiety [17.7%] and schizophrenic [16.2%] disorders. Medical education and quality monitoring programmes are suggested to improve the quality of psychotropic prescriptions and modify multiple pharmacotherapy practice