title: Antipsychotic maintenance treatment of schizophrenia patients: is there a consensus?
abstract: We obtained pharmaco-epidemiologic data regarding the antipsychotic maintenance treatment (AMT) of schizophrenia patients through a postal survey sent to all Austrian psychiatrists and neurologists. Drug therapy was considered the most important therapeutic approach in the long-term management of schizophrenia. However, the majority of the respondents clearly were not satisfied with the current status of scientific knowledge about dosage and duration of AMT. Single-drug treatment with antipsychotics was preferred by the respondents; oral and depot neuroleptics were used with equal frequency. Haloperidol was the oral drug most frequently mentioned as first choice (44% of the respondents), followed by clozapine (14.1%) and thioridazine (9.2%). The proposed mean daily doses showed striking variations among respondents. The proposed mean length of maintenance treatment in first-episode patients was 7.3 months; in multi-episode patients, it was 20.1 months. The results show considerable variation in physicians' attitudes toward AMT.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Psychiatry, University Clinics, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Meise
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurz
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Fleischhacker
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004363:Drug Utilization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011331:Private Practice; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations