title: [Antipsychotic polypharmacy in high-utilising patients with schizophrenia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although guidelines usually recommend monotherapy, in clinical practice, antipsychotic polypharmacy is common especially with chronically ill patients. We therefore assessed the current practice of antipsychotic polypharmacy in "high-utilising" patients with schizophrenia in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  Antipsychotic medication was assessed using a representative sample of 638 patients with schizophrenia from two multi-centre studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antipsychotic combination treatment was administered to 43.9 % of the patients. Combination treatment not including clozapine was apparent in 36.2 %.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Antipsychotic polypharmacy is prevalent in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia showing high service use also when excluding such combinations with clozapine. Differences between the study samples indicate possible influences linked with therapy resistance or treatment setting.
authors.affiliation: LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Kliniken der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Kraepelin
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Puschner
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loos
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Janssen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D019985:Benchmarking / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D003024:Clozapine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D015897:Comorbidity; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000191:economics; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003024:Clozapine