title: Concomitant medication of psychoses in a lifetime perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients treated with antipsychotic drugs often receive concomitant psychotropic compounds. Few studies address this issue from a lifetime perspective. Here, an analysis is presented of the prescription pattern of such concomitant medication from the first contact with psychiatry until the last written note in the case history documents, in patients with a diagnosis of psychotic illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective descriptive analysis of all case history data of 66 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychotic disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related anxiolytic drugs had been prescribed to 95% of the patients, other anxiolytics, sedatives or hypnotic drugs to 61%, anti-parkinsonism drugs to 86%, and antidepressants to 56% of the patients. However, lifetime doses were small and most of the time patients had no concomitant medication. The prescribed lifetime dose of anti-parkinsonism drugs was associated with that of prescribed first-generation but not second-generation antipsychotics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most psychosis patients are sometimes treated with concomitant drugs but mainly over short periods. Lifetime concomitant add-on medication at the individual patient level is variable and complex but not extensive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vares
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saetre
authors.forename: Pontus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strålin
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levander
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lindström
authors.forename: Erik G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Jönsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs