2 research outputs found
ANTIPSYCHOTICS: TO COMBINE OR NOT TO COMBINE?
Antipsychotic monotherapy is strongly recommended in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, antipsychotic polypharmacy
(APP) is common in clinical practice, and appears to be related to illness severity and duration, treatment-refractoriness,
hospitalization status, duration of hospitalization, geographic region and age. Given the high number of different antipsychotic
combinations reported in the literature and prescribed in clinical practice, there are perhaps more differences than similarities
between such combinations. While the majority of combinations increase side-effect burden, limited evidence suggests benefits of
certain combinations.Until more data are available, APP should be reserved for difficult-to treat patients, with careful consideration
of pharmacodynamics properties and doses of each drug, as well as close monitoring