ABSTRACT
Aims: Due to the paucity of studies in and out of India that dealt with treatment awareness of major depressive disorder (MDD), we decided to assess the awareness of MDD patients, and since adherence and awareness are linked to each other, we assessed adherence too. Prescription pattern studies identify changes in prescriptions due to poor initial response or adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which may result in dose reduction or switching medications and delay remission. Therefore, the study assessed the ADR pattern. Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out on 200 MDD patients with treatment records for at least 3 months after getting approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee and consent from the patients. The data obtained were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The mean age was 44.65 ± 12.02 years, and females were 70%. Maximum patients (98%) were aware of the consequence of stopping the drugs suddenly, and only 12.5% were aware of the onset of response to treatment. Escitalopram was the most common antidepressant prescribed (43.77%), and 67 ADRs out of 136 were attributable to it. Weakness and fatigue were the most common ADRs. The majority (97) of the ADRs were possibly related to antidepressants, and 65% of patients showed optimal adherence to medications. Conclusions: This study sheds light on the treatment awareness and adherence of MDD patients in India and highlights the need for educating patients about treatment response. It also emphasizes the importance of monitoring ADRs and adjusting prescription patterns accordingly to improve treatment outcomes.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE AIM: Quality of reporting is very important in medical research. To ensure a uniform and detailed reporting of observational studies experts came out with a checklist of items, named 'Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology' (STROBE). The present study examines the adherence of observational studies published in selected Indian journals from 2011-2015 to STROBE Statement. METHOD: 7 open access Indian journals, belonging to different specialities were selected. All the observational studies were assessed by 5 independent reviewers for the adherence to STROBE checklist as 'yes, partly and no'. The completeness of reporting was also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 271 articles were examined. Only 10 items (Abstract, Background/rationale, Objectives, Study Setting, Data sources/ measurement, Quantitative variables, number of Participants at each stage, Characteristics of study participants, Key results) out of the 22 items and their subdivisions of STROBE were adhered to, in more than 70% of articles. Other 10 items (bias, subgroup analysis, addressing missing data, sensitivity analysis, reason for nonparticipation, flow diagram, missing data) had adherence in less than 30% of the articles. The completeness of reporting was 50.5%, 49.12% and 43.06% in cross sectional, cohort and case control study, respectively. CONCLUSION: The overall reporting was suboptimal. The completeness of reporting did not differ in the three types of observational study designs.
