Table 3.
Association between clinical variables and polypharmacy in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders in Botswana, January 2012 to July 2016
| Risk factors | Mono –pharmacy N (%) |
Polypharmacy N (%) | df | χ2 | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | |||||
| ≤10 | 27 (58.7) | 19 (41.3) | 1 | 5.319 | 0.021 |
| >10 | 58 (78.4) | 16 (21.6) | |||
| Gender | |||||
| Female | 29 (74.4) | 10 (25.6) | 1 | 0.348 | 0.555 |
| Male | 56 (69.1) | 25 (30.9) | |||
| Birth order | |||||
| First born | 16(39.0) | 25(61.0) | 1 | 3.322 | 0.068 |
| Others | 17(23.0) | 57(77.0) | |||
| Past psychiatric history | |||||
| Absent | 14 (58.3) | 10 (41.7) | 1 | 2.269 | 0.132 |
| Present | 71 (74.0) | 25 (26.0) | |||
| Medical history | |||||
| Absent | 78 (71.6) | 31 (28.4) | 1 | 0.307 | 0.582 |
| Present | 7 (63.6) | 4 (36.4) | |||
| Psychiatrist care | |||||
| Not given | 64 (66.0) | 33 (34.0) | 1 | 5.772 | 0.016 |
| Given | 21 (91.3) | 2 (8.7) | |||
| Psychiatric co-morbidity | |||||
| Absent | 43 (84.3) | 8 (15.7) | 1 | 7.802 | 0.005 |
| Present | 42 (60.9) | 27 (39.1) | |||
| Physical co-morbidity | |||||
| Absent | 77 (72.6) | 29 (27.4) | 1 | 1.438 | 0.230 |
| Present | 8 (57.1) | 6 (42.9) | |||
| Diagnosis | |||||
| Externalizing disorders | 26 (60.5) | 17 (39.5) | 2 | 5.524 | 0.063 |
| Internalizing disorders | 7 (100) | - | |||
| Others | 52 (74.3) | 18 (25.7) | |||
| Psychotropic side effect | |||||
| Absent | 75 (75.8) | 24 (24.2) | 1 | 6.640 | 0.010 |
| Present | 10 (47.6) | 11 (52.4) | |||
| Mode of care | |||||
| In-patient | 22 (71.0) | 9 (29.0) | 1 | 0.000 | 0.985 |
| Out-patient | 63 (70.8) | 26 (29.2) | |||
| Type of intervention | |||||
| Only Pharmacological | 30 (68.2) | 14 (31.8) | 1 | 0.28 | 0.866 |
| Both Psychological and pharmacological | 46 (69.7) | 20 (30.3) | |||
Significant p-value in italics, χ2 = Chi-square, df degree of freedom, p = P value