Antipsychotic Use Pattern in People with Psychotic Disorder Living in Board and Care Facilities.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this survey is to determine the pattern of antipsychotic drug use in patients with psychotic disorders, living in board and care facilities and to investigate the related factors.
METHODS: We evaluated the antipsychotic drug use pattern in outpatients with psychotic disorders according to DSM-IV, living in board and care facilities. Patients using polypharmacy at least one month were compared with patients using monotherapy in terms of clinical and demographic characteristics.
RESULTS: Antipsychotic polypharmacy (with two: 34%, with more than two: 28%) was identified in 62% of the patients. The most frequently prescribed combination was olanzapine+quetiapine (13%), the rate of first and second generation combination was 50%, the rate of second generation antipsychotic combination was 44%, and the rate of first generation anytipsychotic combination was 4% in the two antipsychotic drug combination group. The rate of clozapine use was 3%. Use of polypharmacy was associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, young age, suicidal behavior, multiple hospitalizations, clinical severity, and the need of anticholinergic drug.
CONCLUSION: The ratio of using more than two antipsychotic drug combination is high (28%) in psychotic patients living in board and care, and rate of clozapine use is low, which shows that clinical practice is inconsistent with the treatment guidelines recommendations. It appears that further education to rationale antipsychotic drug use in psychiatric practices is required.