title: Impact of feedback from pharmacists in reducing antipsychotic polypharmacy in schizophrenia.
abstract: The objective was to examine effects of active interventions on physician's prescribing of antipsychotic polypharmacy. Prescriptions for patients with schizophrenia at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada were collected in 2006 (n = 648) and 2008 (n = 778). During the intervening period, a pharmacist monitored prescriptions with antipsychotic polypharmacy and contacted corresponding prescribers to provide education on risks of polypharmacy. Moreover, educational sessions on polypharmacy were presented to inpatient and outpatient teams. A three-fold decrease in the prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy was observed between 2006 (18.3%) and 2008 (6.6%). Thus, active monitoring of prescriptions with educational interventions could reduce antipsychotic polypharmacy.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hazra
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sproule
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Remington
authors.forename: Takefumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Mamo
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D002170:Canada; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010595:Pharmacists; D019338:Polypharmacy; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents