Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalen
ce of psychotropic drug use and the predictors of use during hospitalizatio
n. Method: We investigated 728 patients admitted to medical, gynecological,
and surgical wards of two non-university general hospitals in Austria for
psychotropic drug use, psychiatric morbidity, and sociodemographic characte
ristics. Results: The use of psychotropics was highest in medical wards (67
.6%), followed by surgical (59.3%), and gynecological wards (37.8%). Older
age, psychiatric caseness, consultation by psychiatrists and use of psychot
ropics before admission were predictors for psychotropic drug use. Psychotr
opics were given for a longer duration to psychiatric cases than to non-cas
es. Anxiolytics were prescribed most often (39.6%), followed by hypnotics (
16.9%), neuroleptics (10.7%), and antidepressants (7.0%). Conclusions: The
fact that psychiatric illness is a significant predictor of psychotropic dr
ug use suggests that these drugs were prescribed aptly. The longer duration
of use among psychiatric cases supports the idea of appropriate prescripti
ons.