Consumer requests for information regarding psychotropic drugs: experience from a national medicines phone-in

OBJECTIVE: To undertake a qualitative analysis of calls regarding psychotropic drugs that were received during a national medicines phone-in day. BACKGROUND: In July 1996, The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia coordinated a national medications phone-in day, allowing consumers to seek information about medications from pharmacists and physicians using a toll-free telephone number. METHODS: Data collection forms were used to record the details of all calls answered during the phone-in day. Demographic data collected included the estimated age and gender of the caller. Other data collected included the drugs that were the subject of the inquiry and the category of questions. RESULTS: There were 42,096 attempted connections to the service, but because of limited telecommunications capacity, only 2245 callers were successfully connected. Psychotropic drugs were the primary subject of 367 calls, representing 16.4% of all inquiries for which data collection forms were completed. Antidepressants (56.1%) and benzodiazepines (24.8%) were the two most commonly encountered classes of psychotropic drugs. The greatest proportion of calls (57.2%) was related to adverse effects of medications. The nature of the inquiries regarding adverse drug effects was generally consistent with the adverse effects detailed in the scientific literature. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this 1-day, consumer-oriented drug information project suggest that there is a substantial need for this type of service. Patients treated with psychotropic medications should have access to unbiased, high-quality information about drug therapy.