Adherence to the monitoring of metabolic syndrome in patients receiving antipsychotics in outpatient clinics in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Monitoring protocols have been developed because patients taking atypical antipsychotics are more prone to developing metabolic syndrome, which leads to possible increased mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of adherence to the recommendations of metabolic syndrome monitoring.

Materials And Methods: This study was conducted in two large psychiatric facilities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Patterns of psychotropic medication use in inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings in Saudi Arabia.

Objective: To study the pattern of psychotropic medication use and compare this pattern between inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings in Saudi Arabia.

Method: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted between July 2012 and June 2014 on patients seeking psychiatric advice at major hospitals in five main regions of Saudi Arabia. Male (n=651) and female (n=594) patients who signed the informed consent form and were currently or had been previously using psychotropic medications, irrespective of the patient's type of psychiatric diagnosis and duration of the disease, were included.