title: Long-acting antipsychotic medications.
abstract: Antipsychotic medicines are the cornerstone pharmacotherapy for patients with psychotic disorders. Early and continuous management of psychoses improves the quality of life, decreases hospitalization and reduces medical costs. However, many psychotic patients are not fully compliant with treatment, and thus they more often experience a relapsing course with a suboptimal clinical outcome. Long-term parenteral antipsychotic agents may improve compliance by offering clear evidence of medication non-compliance and documented drug administration monitoring. Using injection therapy might be especially beneficial to poorly compliant individuals with their first-psychotic episode and those with severe psychopathology or comorbid substance abuse. The availability of five different antipsychotic drug depot medications offers diverse treatment options which can be individualized for each case.
authors.affiliation: Drexel University, Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19124, USA.
authors.forename: Raman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baweja
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sedky
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lippmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000503:physiopathology; D011788:Quality of Life
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations