Observational studyCNS drugs2021
Twenty-Year Trends in the Psychopharmacological Treatment of Outpatients with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Naturalistic Study in Spain.
Observational study in CNS drugs, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors That Influence Prescribing in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Systematic Review.Personality and mental health · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for co-occurring psychopathology in people with borderline personality disorder: secondary analysis of the Cochrane systematic review with meta-analyses.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for people with borderline personality disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Central nervous system acting medication used by young adults with borderline personality disorder in Sweden 2006-2019.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Lithium in borderline personality disorder: neuroplasticity, anti-inflammatory action, and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- A protocol for MIndfulness-based Neurofeedback to augment DBT psychotherapy for adults with Borderline Personality Disorder (MIND-BPD).PloS one · 2026Article
- A protocol formedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Medication Use and Quality of Life in Older Adults with Personality Disorders.Drugs & aging · 2025Observational
- Trends in pharmacological prescriptions and polypharmacy for personality disorders: a 10-year cross-sectional analysis of naturalistic data.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- An In Vivo Examination of the Relationship Between Metabotropic Glutamate 5 Receptor and Suicide Attempts in People With Borderline Personality Disorder.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Article
- How does mindfulness skills training work to improve emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder?Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation · 2024Article
- Polypharmacy in the treatment of people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder: repeated cross-sectional study using New Zealand's national databases.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Pharmacological Management of Borderline Personality Disorder and Common Comorbidities.CNS drugs · 2023Review
- Psychotropic medication use pre and post-diagnosis of cluster B personality disorder: a Quebec's health services register cohort.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- "Skills for pills": The dialectical-behavioural therapy skills training reduces polypharmacy in borderline personality disorder.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2022Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAlthough no psychotropic drugs have been officially approved for the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD), medications are routinely prescribed for these patients. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the pharmacological management of patients with BPD treated in an outpatient specific unit in Spain over the past 20 years, while a secondary aim was to identify the factors associated with the prescription.
methodsObservational and cross-sectional study of all patients with a primary diagnosis of BPD (n = 620) consecutively admitted to a BPD outpatient program in Barcelona, Spain, from 2001 through 2020. We examined trends in the prescription of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics. For the analysis, prescription data were grouped into four 5-year periods (2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, and 2016-2020). Logistic regression models were performed to identify sociodemographic and clinical variables associated with pharmacological prescription and polypharmacy.
resultsThe percentage of patients receiving pharmacotherapy decreased over time. Antidepressant prescription rates remained high and stable over time (74% of patients), while benzodiazepine use decreased significantly during the study period (from 77 to 36%) and second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) use increased from 15 to 32%. Psychiatric comorbidity was the main factor associated with pharmacological treatment (odds ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.5-4.2) and polypharmacy, although a high percentage of patients without comorbidity were also taking medications.
conclusionsOver the past 20 years, the pharmacological treatment of BPD outpatients has undergone important changes, most notably the decrease in benzodiazepines and increase in SGAs. The findings of this study demonstrate that pharmacotherapy is much more prevalent in patients with BPD than recommended in most clinical guidelines.
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