The effect of age on the pharmacological management of ambulatory patients treated with depot neuroleptic medications for schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders
✍ Scribed by David C. Mamo; Robert A. Sweet; K. N. Roy Chengappa; Ravinder R. Reddy; Dilip V. Jeste
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2002
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 95 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6230
- DOI
- 10.1002/gps.740
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background:
Cross-sectional studies indicate that, in comparison to younger patients, older schizophrenic patients have a higher risk for neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia (td). it has been suggested, therefore, that older patients with schizophrenia could be maintained on reduced doses of conventional neuroleptics.
Method:
We examined the effect of age on psychopharmacological management in a naturalistic study of a group of 165 patients with a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder (age range = 21-84 years; subjects > or = 1;45 years n = 86) treated with either haloperidol decanoate or fluphenazine decanoate.
Results:
Increasing age was not correlated with total daily dose of neuroleptics or anticholinergic medication. however, a modest negative correlation of age with daily neuroleptic dose was found in patients aged 45 years and older.
Conclusion:
The results of this study highlight the need for prospective assessments of depot neuroleptic dose requirements in older patients suffering from primary psychotic disorders.