Baseline use of concomitant psychotropic medications to treat schizophrenia in the CATIE trial.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the prevalence and correlates of concomitant psychotropic medications and use of anticholinergic drugs to treat schizophrenia.


METHODS
Concomitant medication use was studied at baseline for participants in the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) trial.


RESULTS
Of the 1,380 patients with baseline medication data, 82 percent were taking psychotropic medications. Of this group, 6 percent were taking two antipsychotics (one first generation and one second generation); 38 percent, antidepressants; 22 percent, anxiolytics; 4 percent, lithium, and 15 percent, other mood stabilizers. The strongest predictors of taking several medications were having anxiety or depression, being female, and taking second-generation antipsychotics. Conversely, African Americans and those with better neurocognitive functioning were less likely to be taking several concomitant psychotropic medications. In some cases symptoms that were likely targets of polypharmacy, such as depression, remained prominent, suggesting only partial response.


CONCLUSIONS
Concomitant use of psychotropic medications to treat people with schizophrenia is common. Empirical data demonstrating the effectiveness of many of these agents for this population are lacking.
Chakos
Miranda H
MH
Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, 11572, USA.
Glick
Ira D
ID
Miller
Alexander L
AL
Hamner
Mark B
MB
Miller
Del D
DD
Patel
Jayendra K
JK
Tapp
Andre
A
Keefe
Richard S E
RS
Rosenheck
Robert A
RA
D000328:Adult; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019992:Databases as Topic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011570:Psychiatry; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs