Evaluation of adverse drug reactions in patients of schizophrenia in tertiary care teaching hospitals in Central India

Background: For decades, it has been observed that mental health is shrouded in stigma and discrimination. The scope, severity, and expense of impairment and costs to people, families, and societies are staggering. Mental illnesses are among the most frequent illnesses, affecting over a quarter of the population in any given year. According to national institute of mental health and neurosciences, Bangalore, the prevalence of schizophrenia has been considered as 4/1000 for all ages and both sexes. Aim and Objectives: The objectives of this study were to as follows: (1) To evaluate adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in patients with schizophrenia who received antipsychotic treatment and (2) to compare ADRs in typical versus atypical antipsychotic agents in schizophrenic patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 schizophrenic patients were enrolled for evaluating adverse effects to antipsychotic drugs. During the research, all ethical precautions were taken. All patients were followed up by medical history, history of drugs, and any severity of adverse drug reaction. Causality assessment was graded by Naranjo scale. Result: Among all of the antipsychotic drugs, risperidone (05%), quetiapine (04%), and aripiprazole (04%) have shown lowest propensity to cause serious adverse event. These drugs are most commonly prescribed drugs and are least likely to affect quality of life of patient. However, the risk of extrapyramidal symptoms is lower with olanzapine (05%) than haloperidol (34%) and even in case with risperidone at higher dose (20%). Although atypical antipsychotics such as olanzapine (46%) have shown maximum potential to produce metabolic side effect such as dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia compared to that of other antipsychotics. Conclusion: The most common adverse effects were found with typical and atypical antipsychotics such as weight gain, drowsiness, constipation, sedation, dyslipidemia, and hypotension.