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Background: Psychiatric disorders are one of the major causes of morbidity. Development of newer drugs like SSRIs and atypical antipsychotics has altered the treatment paradigms. Various factors like cost of drugs, local paradigms, etc. play a role in the selection of drug therapy and hence, affect the outcome. Keeping this in mind, we conducted a study to delineate the various drugs used in psychiatric disorders, to find discrepancies, if any, between the actual and the ideal prescribing pattern of psychotropic drugs and to conduct a cost analysis. Material and Methods:After our institutional ethics committee approved, a retrospective cross sectional drug utilization study of 600 pre scriptions was undertaken. Preparation of the protocol and conduct of the study was as per the WHO -DUS and the STROBE guidelines.results: Drug use indicators -In 600 prescriptions, 1074 (88.25%) were psychotropic drugs. The utilization from the National and WHO EML was 100% and 90%, respectively. Average number of psychotropic drugs per prescription was 1.79 ± 1.02 (SD). 22.5% of the prescriptions contained psychotropic FDCs. 76.01% of drugs were prescribed by generic name. Percentage of psychotropic drugs prescribed from the hospital drug schedule and psychotropic drugs actually dispensed from the hospital drug store were 73.1% and 62.3%, respectively. Drug utilization pattern in different psychiatric disorders -Most commonly prescribed drugs for schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, depression and anxiety disorders were trifluoperazine + trihexiphenydyl (63.9%), carbamazepine (17.2%), amitriptyline (34.9%), and diazepam (23.8%), respectively. The least commonly prescribed drugs were levosulpiride (1.7%), lithium (1.3%), bupropion (4.7%) and clozapine (1.9%), respectively. The PDD/ DDD ratio of three drugs -haloperidol, pimozide and amitriptyline -was equal to one. The cost borne by the hospital was 116, i.e., 65.2% of the total cost. The cost index of clozapine was 11.2. conclusion: Overall, the principles of rational prescribing were followed. The hospital drug schedule should include more SSRIs. The practice of using 1 st generation/ typical anti-psychotics as the first line was as per current recommendations. Anticholinergics should be used only in selected cases of patients on anti-psychotics. The use of diazepam should be curtailed and it should be used for short term only. Karan B. Thakkar et al., Drug utilization Study -Psychotropic Drugs www.jcdr.net

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Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alfa-2b (PEG IFN-α2b) along with the standard of care (SOC) in subjects with moderate Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19). Methods In this study, adult subjects with confirmed COVID-19 and moderate signs and symptoms were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either PEG IFN-α2b + SOC or, SOC alone. The primary endpoint was a 2-point improvement in clinical status on day 11, measured by the World Health Organisation 7-point ordinal scale. Results 250 subjects were randomized to the PEG IFN-α2b + SOC (n = 120) and the SOC (n = 130) arms. The PEG IFN vs SOC arm results for the proportion of subjects with a 2-point improvement were 80.36% vs 68.18%, (P=0.037) on Day 8; 91.60% vs 92.56%, (P= 0.781) on Day 11; and, 94.12% vs 95.93%, (P=0.515) on Day 15. There was a time dependent decrease in the biomarkers in both the arms, no clinically significant changes in lab parameters, and the safety profile was similar. Conclusion PEG IFN-α2b induced early viral clearance, improved the clinical status and decreased the duration of supplemental oxygen. It provides a viable treatment option and can limit the spread of virus.