title: Noninterventional, Naturalistic, Retrospective Study to Describe Prescription Patterns of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics and the Impact of Introducing a New Atypical Antipsychotic in the Spanish Province of Tarragona Catchment Area.
abstract: We studied the patterns and predictors of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic (AP) use in the treatment of schizophrenia and the effect of introducing a new LAI (paliperidone palmitate [paliperidone-LAI]) in the Spanish province of Tarragona.
  
  
  
  This noninterventional, naturalistic, retrospective study included electronic medical record data from a large population-based database of 1,646 patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria and treated between January 2011 and December 2013.
  
  
  
  During the study period, 42.0% of patients were treated with an LAI AP. The most frequently prescribed initial LAI was risperidone (52.0% of patients). A total of 23% of patients initially treated with an oral AP were switched to an LAI AP, a change that was associated with younger age (P = .001), undifferentiated schizophrenia (P = .015), substance abuse (P < .001), and neuropsychiatric comedication with the following agents: anticonvulsants (P = .004), anticholinergics (P < .001), and hypnotics/sedatives (P = .03). The change from an oral AP to paliperidone-LAI was predicted by younger age (P < .001). Overall, 27.5% of patients switched to another LAI AP, and paliperidone-LAI was the preferred option in 64.7% of cases. The most frequent change involved patients taking risperidone-LAI, many of whom transitioned to paliperidone-LAI (85.0% of cases), particularly patients with a disease duration > 5 years (P = .019).
  
  
  
  There was a progressive increase in the use of LAI formulations in our catchment area. These agents were preferentially prescribed to patients with chronic disease and a history of substance abuse, as well as patients receiving neuropsychiatric comedication. One-month LAI formulations were commonly used in young patients.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gaviria
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Guillem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rico
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciències Experimentals i la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, PRBB, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muntané
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sáez
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Gistau
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Pablo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata Ctra de l'Institut Pere Mata, s/n 43206, Reus, Spain. vilellae@peremata.com.|Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CIBERSAM, Reus, Spain.
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vilella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D015897:Comorbidity; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage; D057915:Drug Substitution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000068882:Paliperidone Palmitate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013030:Spain; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D000068882:Paliperidone Palmitate