METHOD
By extracting data from the Norwegian prescription database, all patients 18-69 years old that started treatment with an antipsychotic during 2004-2012 formed the basis for analysis (n = 301,713). The primary outcome measure was the proportion of FGA and SGA users prescribed with cholesterol-lowering agent during the same period. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate the risk of redeeming a cholesterol-lowering drug for formerly antipsychotic drug-naive patients (n = 147,218).
RESULTS
Statin prescription rates in patients receiving antipsychotic agents were lower (5.3%) than comparable rates in studies covering the general population (34%) and lower than would be expected based on the recognized negative impact of antipsychotics on serum lipids. Statin prescription rates were affected by patient age, antipsychotic dose, and the number of antipsychotic agents prescribed, but rates were only 5% elevated in patients receiving SGAs compared to patients receiving FGAs (P = .048).
CONCLUSIONS
Our results may support the notion that patients treated with antipsychotic agents receive suboptimal care with regard to metabolic adverse effects.
Link til artikkel
- Forfattere: Skrede, Silje; Tvete, Ingunn Fride; Tanum, Lars; Steen, Vidar Martin; Bramness, Jørgen Gustav
- Publisert: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2015 ;Volum 76.(1) s. e111-e116