title: The effects of organizational stress on inpatient psychiatric medication patterns.
abstract: The effect of organizational stress on the antipsychotic medication levels of patients was assessed over a 1-year period. Through the use of autocorrelational techniques, medication use was shown to function as a dynamic homeostasis: Continuous adjustments and counter-adjustments resulted in an approximation of equilibrium centering around an idealized dose level. Graphically, these homeostatic oscillations resembled a sinusoidal function with distinct amplitude and periodicity. Organizational stress significantly increased the amplitude of dose level oscillations and shortened the periodicity of each oscillation. Uncontrolled, this situation could lead to a state of extreme overmedication followed sharply by extreme undermedication .
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003463:Cues; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005246:Feedback; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013597:Systems Analysis
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents