Neurological Perspectives Should Be Integrated Into the Management of Tardive Dyskinesia—Expert Opinions and Proposed Educational Initiatives in Asia

Abstract

227Tardive dyskinesia(TD) is a movement disorder that exhibits a range of clinical manifestations arising as side effects of treatment with dopamine receptor-blocking agents, primarily antipsychotic drugs (APDs) [1,2].Consequently,its management overlaps different disciplines, in particular, psychiatry and neurology.In practice, this canresult ina gap in management whereby patients receive only one aspect of what should ideally bemultidisciplinarycare. Psychiatrists will naturally focus on controllingthe patient'schallenging psychotic symptomsand may not be specialized in the evaluation of the abnormal movements that are a core manifestation of TD [3,4].As a result, exposure of neurologists to TD patients may be limited to when the condition has becomesevere. Indirect evidence of this is suggested by the psychiatry curriculum for neurology residents developed in collaboration with the Consortium of Neurology Program Directors and the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, approved by the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN)