Alcohol abuse in chronic schizophrenics: implications for management in the community.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of regular alcohol consumption on chronic schizophrenic patients maintained on fluphenazine decanoate in the community. A group of patients who consumed more than 20 units of alcohol per week was compared with those who did not drink or did so only occasionally. It was found that patients in the alcohol group had a higher frequency of previous relapses, a greater severity of positive symptoms and a lower incidence of extrapyramidal side effects except tardive dyskinesia for which there was no difference. Serum fluphenazine levels were lower in this group (NS). It was concluded that patients who regularly consume alcohol tend to be clinically unstable, perhaps because of poor therapeutic control.