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Concomitant medication of psychoses in a lifetime perspective
Author(s) -
Vares Maria,
Saetre Peter,
Strålin Pontus,
Levander Sten,
Lindström Eva,
Jönsson Erik G.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.1209
Subject(s) - concomitant , antipsychotic , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , medicine , medical prescription , parkinsonism , hypnotic , pharmacology , disease
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 9 5 % of the patients, other anxiolytics, sedatives or hypnotic drugs to 61%, anti‐parkinsonism drugs to 8 6 %, 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. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.