Antipsychotic dosing patterns for schizophrenia in three treatment settings.
Daily dosages of antipsychotic medications were evaluated to determine whether current guidelines advocating lower dosing are being followed. A chart review of 163 outpatients with schizophrenia was undertaken in three outpatient hospital settings-a general community hospital, a provincial hospital, and an academic teaching hospital. The daily dosage in chlorpromazine equivalents was significantly higher in the provincial hospital (773.8 mg) than in the community hospital (355 mg) or the academic hospital (424.8 mg). A greater proportion of patients at the provincial hospital received conventional antipsychotics than novel antipsychotics or depot antipsychotics, and a greater proportion received more than one antipsychotic.
Remington
G
G
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. gary_remington@camh.net
Shammi
C M
CM
Sethna
R
R
Lawrence
R
R
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002170:Canada; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017723:Drug Utilization Review; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006766:Hospitals, County / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D004304:Dosage Forms; D002746:Chlorpromazine