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Prescription profiles for pharmacological treatment of Japanese inpatients with schizophrenia: comparison between 2007 and 2009
Author(s) -
Yoshio Takashi,
Inada Toshiya,
Uno Junji,
Miwa Takaichi,
Kitagawa Kohei,
Miyahara Yoshiki,
Umeda Kenta,
Kato Tsuyoshi,
Inagaki Ataru,
Nabeshima Toshitaka
Publication year - 2012
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.1272
Subject(s) - polypharmacy , antipsychotic , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , medical prescription , concomitant , psychiatry , pharmacology
Background and Objective Pharmacological treatment of schizophrenic patients in Japan is characterized by polypharmacy with high doses of antipsychotics. In this study, we examined the profiles of antipsychotic drug therapy in 2007 and 2009 to determine if there have been any recent shifts in treatment strategy. Method The subjects were schizophrenic inpatients (ICD‐10‐F20) admitted to 100 hospitals in 2007 and 152 hospitals in 2009. Information on the psychotropic agents prescribed on specified days in November 2007 and 2009 was acquired for each patient. Results Although no changes were observed in the rate of antipsychotic medications being prescribed, the rate of antipsychotic monotherapy in 2009 increased significantly. In 2007, among 15,761 patients, 4977 (31.6%) received antipsychotic monotherapy (i.e., administration of a single antipsychotic medication). In 2009, among 22,911 patients, 7741 (33.8%) received antipsychotic monotherapy. Conclusion The rate of use of antipsychotic monotherapy has gradually increased, although the total dose has not changed significantly. The increase in the concomitant use of two or more second‐generation antipsychotics is a recent trend in Japan, despite the lack of information on the efficacy and safety of this treatment strategy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.