An Audit of Outpatient Antipsychotic Usage in the Three Health Sectors of Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

There is a significant variation in the prescribing of antipsychotics across the three Auckland health sectors. The variation relates to dosage used, type of antipsychotics prescribed and effect of multiple antipsychotic prescribing. Combination therapy of more than one oral antipsychotic or a combination of oral and depot antipsychotics leads to a significant trend of higher doses in excess of best practice guidelines.

Frequency and correlates of antipsychotic polypharmacy among patients with schizophrenia in Denmark: A nation-wide pharmacoepidemiological study

“…This result complements a previous finding where initiation of clozapine within the same period was delayed (Nielsen et al, 2012c). Previous studies have found correlations between high use of clozapine and low prevalence of APP (Chong et al, 2000;Humberstone et al, 2004). The increased use of APP and the delay of clozapine prescribing may have a negative impact on the long-term prognosis of patients with schizophrenia, as the likelihood of clozapine response seems to decrease based on the number of previous relapses and antipsychotic treatment trials (Nielsen et al, , 2012c.…”

“…Prescribing APP in 2012 was associated with several significant correlates that were associated with greater illness severity/chronicity, somatic co-morbidities and greater anticholinergic use, likely due to higher antipsychotic DDDs (Humberstone et al, 2004;Nielsen et al, 2010b) and related Parkinsonian side effects. These correlates reflect most likely measures of disease severity and poor outcome of patients prescribed APP (Correll and Gallego, 2012).…”

Reflections on Masculinity, Culture and the Diagnosis of Depression

“…This contention is consistent with ethnicity-based explanations for differential crime rates [26], the public perception regarding male aggression (the 'Once were warriors' syndrome), the high rates of perceived aggression [27] and the service use of seclusion and antipsychotic drugs on Māori patients [28,29]. All of these findings have parallels with studies involving African ÁAmer-icans [14].…”

Remediation of Facial Emotion Recognition in Schizophrenia: Functional Predictors, Generalizability, and Durability

“…ANOVA results for differences between inpatients vs. outpatients and follow-up vs. no follow-up Chlorpromazine equivalent doses were calculated from(Humberstone, Wheeler, & Lambert, 2004). Ã p < .05, ÃÃ p < .01, ÃÃÃ p < .0005.…”