Korean J Leg Med.  2017 Nov;41(4):115-121. 10.7580/kjlm.2017.41.4.115.

Psychopharmacological Treatment Patterns in Patients with Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder in Forensic Inpatient Settings

• Kim SK
• Lee DB

• KMID: 2397686
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2017.41.4.115

Abstract

The National Forensic Hospital is the only forensic psychiatric hospital in Korea. As of January 2016, the average number of patients assigned to each psychiatrist is more than 120. In this situation, the role of psychopharmacologic treatment becomes very important. To investigate the prescription patterns of major psychotropic medications (i.e., antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and antidepressants), we reviewed the medical records of the patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who were admitted in January 2016. The data from 418 patients (403 with schizophrenia and 15 with schizoaffective disorder) were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The average number of major psychotropic medications prescribed for each patient during hospitalization was as follows: antipsychotics, 3.5±1.8; mood stabilizers, 0.5±0.7; and antidepressants, 0.5±0.8. The three most frequently prescribed antipsychotics were risperidone (21.7%), olanzapine (15.5%), and quetiapine (14.4%). More than half of the patients (233, 55.9%) were prescribed an antipsychotic polypharmacy regimen. This study found that patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in forensic psychiatric hospital tend to be prescribed many psychotropic medications.

Keyword

Schizophrenia; Forensic psychiatry; Prescribing pattern; Psychopharmacology; Polypharmacy

MeSH Terms

Antidepressive Agents
Antipsychotic Agents
Forensic Psychiatry
Hospitalization
Hospitals, Psychiatric
Humans
Inpatients*
Korea
Medical Records
Polypharmacy
Prescriptions
Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
Psychotic Disorders*
Quetiapine Fumarate
Retrospective Studies
Risperidone
Schizophrenia*
Antidepressive Agents
Antipsychotic Agents
Quetiapine Fumarate
Risperidone

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