Explorando o conhecimento sobre antidepressivos entre cardiologistas : uma análise descritiva e correlacional

Abstract

Introduction. Antidepressants are chemical substances indicated for the treatment of various mental illnesses. They may pose a risk to the user's health when the particularities of their mechanisms of action, side effects, and drug interactions are not observed. Objectives. To investigate possible difficulties of cardiologists regarding the prescription of antidepressant drugs, and consequently, to identify potential challenges that may contribute to iatrogenic events. Methods. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, using a self-administered questionnaire prepared entirely by the authors. It includes aspects inherent to the pharmacological classes of the most widely used antidepressants in Brazil, their drug interactions, and their main cardiovascular side effects. Results. Out of 270 questions, 161 were answered correctly (59.63%), while 109 were answered incorrectly (40.37%). It was observed that the most incorrect questions were: 3, 4, 5, and 7. These questions were related to norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors; norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and 5-HT2 receptor antagonism; alpha-2-adrenergic receptor antagonists; and monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibitors, respectively. It was also observed how many years of experience (n=28, 2 samples missing) the sample had. The minimum value was 4, and the maximum was 35 years. It presented a mean of 17.25, a median of 14, and a standard deviation of 9.364. To compare the years of experience with the accuracy rate, the correlation analysis between quantitative variables was used with the Shapiro-Wilk test for bivariate samples. Furthermore, neither variable followed a normal pattern, and Spearman's rank correlation was performed. The corrected p-value for the Shapiro-Wilk test (p=0.098) was insignificant, as was Spearman's rank correlation (p=0.167). Conclusions. The average accuracy rate was 59.63%, and the accuracy rate did not correlate with the years of experience. It should be noted that cardiologists are not trained after graduation in the pharmacology of antidepressants. It was also observed that professionals had greater difficulty in identifying specific types of antidepressants, such as those mentioned above, despite having excellent knowledge of the most common antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most common cardiovascular side effects, and drug interactions.