Doctors have been warned against prescribing quetiapine for generalised anxiety disorder following the largest review to date of relevant pharmacotherapy.

Sydney GP and psychotherapist Dr Jill Gordon says despite quetiapine’s effectiveness, it is poorly tolerated among patients with anxiety.

“Most GPs would agree that it’s been terribly overprescribed off-label in recent times, and we need to stop and take stock,” she told Australian Doctor.

In a systematic review, UK researchers analysed 22 different medications from 89 trials published between 1994 and 2017, covering 25,000 patients.