Explicit review of risperidone long-acting injection prescribing practice

Predictors of long-acting injectable antipsychotic prescription at discharge in patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders

Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) increase drug compliance and offer a reliable treatment option with stable pharmacokinetics. The aim of our study is to examine the rate and predictors of LAIs' prescription at discharge in inpatients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. This retrospective study included 400 inpatients. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, the treatments applied in the past and prescribed at discharge were obtained from the hospitalization files. We compared these characteristics of those who were given LAI treatment at discharge to the patients who were given oral treatments. Thirty-nine percent of the patients were prescribed a LAI at discharge. Duration of illness was longer, and number of previous hospitalizations was higher in the LAI group. Nonadherence to the antipsychotics before the hospitalization, the previous history of LAI use, lack of insight at the admission and no previous antidepressant use were found as independent contributors to LAI prescription as the treatment of discharge in logistic regression analysis. Our study showed that LAIs are used at a high rate in our clinic; however, they are still initiated at a later stage, mostly in chronic patients with a lack of insight and compliance at admission.

The effects of concurrent oral paliperidone or risperidone use with paliperidone long-acting injection

Introduction

Dosing recommendations for paliperidone long-acting injectable antipsychotic (LAIA) do not include oral antipsychotic (OAP) overlap; however, OAPs are often given concurrently despite limited evidence describing both the risks and benefits of this practice.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was conducted in patients initiated on paliperidone palmitate (PP) during a psychiatric hospitalization to compare patients who received OAP overlap versus those who did not. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients who receive prescription claims for benztropine, a medication commonly prescribed for extrapyramidal symptoms, at the time of LAIA discontinuation and 6 months postdischarge. Secondary outcomes include prescription claims for beta blockers and diphenhydramine, number of psychiatric emergency visits and hospitalizations, length of stay of the index hospitalization, frequency of LAIA discontinuation and the time to LAIA discontinuation.

Results

There is a significant difference in the proportion of benztropine prescription claims in the OAP overlap group versus the no-overlap group at the time of LAIA discontinuation (30% vs 0%, P = .046) but not at 6 months postdischarge. There are also significant differences in the number of psychiatric emergency visits (0.7 vs 0.1, P = .02) and psychiatric hospitalizations (0.6 vs 0.1, P = .029) at the time of LAIA discontinuation. No other differences are observed in defined secondary outcomes.

Discussion

Patients who receive OAP overlap while receiving PP receive more benztropine and have more psychiatric emergency visits and hospitalizations than those treated without OAP. Larger studies with better control for confounding variables are needed to confirm these results.

Antipsychotic prescribing for vulnerable populations: a clinical audit at an acute Australian mental health unit at two-time points

BACKGROUND

Antipsychotics are recognised as a critical intervention for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Guidelines globally endorse the routine practice of antipsychotic monotherapy, at the minimum effective dose. Even in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, clozapine use is endorsed before combining antipsychotics. This aim of this study was to review antipsychotic polytherapy alone, high-dose therapy alone, polytherapy and high-dose prescribing patterns in adults discharged from an inpatient mental health unit at two time-points, and the alignment of this prescribing with clinical guideline recommendations. Additionally, associations with polytherapy and high-dose antipsychotic prescribing, including patient and clinical characteristics, were explored.

METHODS

A retrospective clinical audit of 400 adults (200 patients at two different time-points) discharged with at least one antipsychotic. Preliminary findings and education sessions were provided to physicians between Cohorts. Outcomes (polytherapy alone, high-dose therapy alone, polytherapy and high-dose therapy) were compared between study Cohorts using chi-squared and rank-sum tests. Associations between outcomes and covariates were assessed using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

Most patients (62.5%) were discharged on a single antipsychotic within the recommended dose range. There was a clear preference for prescribing second generation antipsychotics, and in this respect, prescribing is aligned with current evidence-based guidelines. However, sub-optimal prescribing practices were identified for both Cohorts in relation to polytherapy and high-dose antipsychotic rates. Involuntary treatment, frequent hospitalisations and previous clozapine use significantly increased the risk of all three prescribing outcomes at discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

In a significant minority, antipsychotic prescribing did not align with clinical guidelines despite increased training, indicating that the education program alone was ineffective at positively influencing antipsychotic prescribing practices. Further consideration should be given when prescribing antipsychotics for involuntary patients, people with frequent hospitalisations, and those who have previously trialled clozapine.

Recent Publications on Medications and Pharmacy

Hospital Pharmacy presents this feature to keep pharmacists abreast of new publications in the medical/pharmacy literature. Articles of interest regarding a broad scope of topics are abstracted monthly.