Self-Medication Perceptions and Practice of Medical and Pharmacy Students in Serbia.

BACKGROUND: Attitudes towards conventional and complementary medicine among future healthcare professionals can impact their future pharmacotherapy practice. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predisposing factors related to self-medication among medical and pharmacy students. METHODS: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, on first- and final-year students of medicine and pharmacy. The multivariate Poisson regression model with robust variance was used to identify the main predictors of self-medication. RESULTS: The overall self-medication prevalence in the past year was 81.3%. Independent risk factors for self-medication identified in the regression analysis were the final study year, housing condition, i.e., living in a leased apartment or in a student dormitory in comparison to living with parents, and cigarette consumption. The conventional drugs were the most frequently used, mostly for the symptoms of cold and pain. Final-year students had more confidence in conventional medicines than in herbal drugs and were more aware of the risks of their concomitant use. CONCLUSION: Self-medication is highly prevalent among students of medical sciences, especially among final-year students. Increased medical knowledge led to the higher awareness of the drug interaction risks.

Sex differences in macular thickness of the retina in patients with psychosis spectrum disorders.

INTRODUCTION: Imaging of retinal structure in psychosis spectrum disorders (PSD) is a novel approach to studying effect of this illness class on CNS structure. Studies of optical coherence tomography (OCT) have revealed significant reductions in regarding: retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macular thickness (MT), ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and macular volume (MV). Sex differences in retinal structure in PSD have not been previously explored. METHODS: This cross-sectional pilot study included 81 participant of age matched patients and controls. There were no differences between genders regarding illness duration and antipsychotic daily dose in the patient group. SD-OCT assessed RNFL, GC-IPL, MT, MV, and optic nerve cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio. In order to assess the main effects of illness, sex, and illness × sex interaction on the retinal parameters, general linear model was performed. RESULTS: Patients demonstrated abnormalities on all OCT indices. Effects of sex were observed for central subfield MT and C/D ratio, which were lower in females. An illness × sex interaction effect was observed for the left MT, indicating greater thinning in female patients. CONCLUSION: Sex differences in OCT findings in PSD appear to be most prominent considering macular parameters. These preliminary data may have important implications for the valid interpretation of OCT findings as potential biomarkers for PSD.

Maintenance phase treatment of psychotic disorders in outpatients from Serbia - focus on long-term benzodiazepine use.

Introduction: Prescribing trends in maintenance therapy of patients with primary psychotic disorders (PSD) may vary worldwide. Present study aimed to investigate prescription patterns in a sample of outpatients with PSD from Serbia.Methods: In a sample of 73 PSD outpatients we analysed the rate of antipsychotic polypharmacy and psychotropic polypharmacy, concomitant continual benzodiazepine use, and associations between therapy, psychotic symptoms and quality of life.Results: Maintenance therapy (median daily dose 321 mg of chlorpromazine equivalents) predominantly consisted of monotherapy with second generation antipsychotics (45.2%), followed by antipsychotic polypharmacy based on first and second generation combination (25.0%). The median number of psychotropic drugs was 3. Benzodiazepines were continually prescribed to more than 60% of patients (mean daily dose 2.9 ± 2.0 mg lorazepam equivalents). Patients with benzodiazepine use had significantly more psychotropic medications and more antipsychotic polypharmacy, poorer quality of life and more severe psychopathology in comparison to another group.Conclusion: The present study demonstrated new information regarding the prescription patterns of psychotropic drugs in outpatients with PSD in Serbia, amplified with clinically relevant information. This study also revealed distinct prescription patterns concerning antipsychotic/benzodiazepine polypharmacy. Overall, such findings are likely to contribute to improving clinical practice and care for patients with PSD in general.KeypointsPresent exploratory research aimed to elucidate trends of antipsychotics polypharmacy and concomitant use of psychotropic medications including benzodiazepines in the maintenance treatment of outpatients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, amplified with clinically relevant information (symptoms and quality of life).'Antipsychotic (AP) polypharmacy' was defined as concurrent use of more than one AP for at least 1 month; 'Psychotropic polypharmacy' was defined as the combination of AP and a different class of psychotropic drugs medication for at least one month.The median number of prescribed psychotropic drugs was 3 (mean 3.1 ± 1.1) and the average AP daily dose was moderate (median 321 mg of chlorpromazine equivalents). However, the rates of AP polypharmacy (45.2%) and benzodiazepine prescription on a continual basis (>60%) found in our sample could be considered relatively high.Outpatients with higher AP daily dose and higher BPRS symptom score were receiving more benzodiazepines.For improvement of the local, as well as general clinical practice and care for patients with psychotic disorders, and for education in psychiatry, such analyses need to be done on a regular basis and on larger samples.