Introduction

Psychotropics are substances that cause changes in the central nervous system and are commonly used to treat various mental disorders that affect many people. It is known that a large part of this class of drugs has a high risk of causing dependence, and that constant and indiscriminate use can bring various health risks.

Aim

To evaluate the prescription of psychotropic drugs in the Basic Pharmacy of Cuité-PB.

Methodology

This research corresponds to a cross-sectional, quantitative, and descriptive study, in which 200 users of psychotropics attended at the basic pharmacy of Cuité-PB participated. Data collection took place from November 2020 to June 2021.

Results

There was a prevalence of female individuals (58.5%), single (43.5%) and adults (49.5%), with low levels of education (48.0%) and low monthly income (43.5%). Unemployed users (27.0%), farmers (17.0%) and retirees (17.0%) with a maximum family of 3 members (63.0%) prevailed. The most prescribed psychoactive agents were clonazepam (21.4%), amitriptyline (13.2%) and diazepam (12.5%), purchased with prescriptions obtained from the public health network. Generally, the time of use was from 1 to 5 years (43.5%). As for potential drug interactions, the presence of 33 interactions was detected, the most frequent being the association between diazepam and haloperidol, found in 8 prescriptions and classified as moderate. Of the evaluated prescriptions, 3 had non-compliance mainly related to dosage.

Conclusion

There is a considerable use of psychotropic drugs, requiring more adequate monitoring by health professionals.