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Patterns of use of psychotropic drugs in Spain in an international perspective

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Clinical Pharmacology in Psychiatry

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Abstract

The increase in the consumption of psychotherapeutic drugs, and particularly of sedatives and hypnotics, has led to increasing concern about the overprescribing and abuse of these drugs by the public. The study of drug consumption, and eventually the identification of particular areas of misuse, soon leads to a search for medical, social or cultural factors which can influence drug utilization. Drug utilization has been defined by the World Health Organization (1977) as ‘the marketing, distribution, prescription and use of drugs in a society, with special emphasis on the resulting medical, social and economic consequences’. Five questions arise when the utilization of sedatives and hypnotics is to be studied: (1) which are the characteristics of the milieu which may have some influence on the consumption of these drugs; (2) which are the characteristics of the supply of these drugs; (3) which are the most consumed drugs; (4) how are these drugs prescribed, dispensed and consumed; and (5) which (if any) are the effects of the consumption of these drugs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Ciutat Sanitària de la Vall d’Hebron, P. Vall d’Hebron, s.n, Barcelona - 32/35, Spain

    Joan-Ramon Laporte, Dolors Capellà, Miquel Porta & María Elisa Frati

Authors
  1. Joan-Ramon Laporte
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  2. Dolors Capellà
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  3. Miquel Porta
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  4. María Elisa Frati
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Odense University, School of Medicine, Odense, Denmark

    Lars F. Gram

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

    Earl Usdin

  3. Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Medical Biology, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    Svein G. Dahl

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Odense University, School of Medicine, Odense, Denmark

    Per Kragh-Sørensen

  5. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden

    Folke Sjöqvist

  6. L.E.R.S. Sythélabo, Paris, France

    Paolo L. Morselli

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Cite this chapter

Laporte, JR., Capellà, D., Porta, M., Frati, M.E. (1983). Patterns of use of psychotropic drugs in Spain in an international perspective. In: Gram, L.F., Usdin, E., Dahl, S.G., Kragh-Sørensen, P., Sjöqvist, F., Morselli, P.L. (eds) Clinical Pharmacology in Psychiatry. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-06671-1_2

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