Use of Depot Antipsychotic Medications for Medication Nonadherence in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Initiation of depot injections is a joint function of patient, physician, treatment, and setting factors. Use of long-acting preparations in this population is uncommon despite clinical recommendations urging their use.

Clinicians’ Attitudes Toward the Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics

“…This belief is associated with the reluctance of psychiatrists to use depot antipsychotics when patients show good compliance with the oral drug form. Even worseVif psychiatrists really think that patients are poorly compliant, they still underuse depot in these patients (West et al, 2008).…”

“…However, the use of long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations varies between countries. The prescription rates are higher in France (23.5%;Fourrier et al, 2000) and in the United Kingdom (29%; Barnes et al, 2009) compared with other European countries and with Canada (6.3%; Williams et al, 2006) or the United States (17.6%; West et al, 2008).This discrepancy between countries can be considered to derive from the health care system and from the different attitudes displayed by psychiatrists.Perceived coercion or presumed risks for lower tolerance of depot forms have been identified as factors responsible for this low use (Heres et al, 2006; Patel and David, 2011). More generally, negative attitudes from practitioners toward these forms have been shown to account for part of the low prescription rates of depot antipsychotics (Hamann et al, 2010;Heres et al, 2006Heres et al, , 2008Heres et al, , 2011.…”

Antipsychotics in schizophrenia: a retrospective study of drug utilization pattern in outpatient department of psychiatry at a tertiary care hospital

“…10 Depot preparations help to manage the non-adherence of the patients. 15 Schizophrenia patients in our study received drugs other than antipsychotics, which included anticholinergics like trihexyphenidyl, antidepressants like fluoxetine, sedative hypnotics like lorazepam and others like multivitamins. Sedative hypnotics might have been used to control the agitation or anxiety of the patient and fluoxetine in schizophrenic patients with co-morbid depression.…”

1151 – Clinicians’ attitudes toward the use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics

“…However, the use of long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations varies between countries. The prescription rates are higher in France (23.5%; Fourrier et al, 2000) and in the United Kingdom (29%; Barnes et al, 2009) compared with other European countries and with Canada (6.3%; Williams et al, 2006) or the United States (17.6%; West et al, 2008).…”