[Consumption of psychotropic drugs in an Administrative Region of the city of Rio de Janeiro: Ilha do Governador]

Abstract

In 1988, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of alcoholism and alcohol consumption in the 20th Administrative Region of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The interview protocol included questions about consumption of psychotropics, coffee, and cigarettes. This paper presents data from psychotropic consumption in the month. The sample of the population older than 13 years old included 1,459 subjects. Overall consumption of psychotropic drugs was 5.2%. Rate of psychotropic use was higher for females (6.7%) than for males (3.1%). Users were predominantly women, elderly, (the highest rate was for those between 60-69 years), divorced or widows, and with lower family income. The association of each socio-demographic variable was evaluated by the odds ratio adjusted by logistic regression. Anxiolytics (benzodiazepines) predominated (85.23%) among the reported psychotropics, followed by antiepileptics (5.68%) and hypnotics and sedatives (4.54%). Physicians not specializing in neurology or psychiatry lead prescriptions (65.8%). 80.26% of the drugs were obtained in pharmacies, while 13.16% were obtained in governmental institutions, most of them by controlled prescriptions. The results are discussed and new lines of research are suggested.