Relationships between Use of Long Acting Antipsychotics and Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Schizophrenia

Objective: Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that causes severe sociooccupational disability. The primary goal of treatment is to prevent a subsequent relapse and restore sociooccupational functioning to the premorbid level. However, high rates of relapses can be seen during the illness due to inadequate adherence to drug therapy. Long acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics aim to promote compliance in individuals with particularly severe mental illnesses, thereby enhancing relapse prevention. In the literature, there are limited numbers of studies, which have investigated the relationships between use of LAI antipsychotics and sociodemographical and clinical characteristics of schizophrenic patients. In this study, we aimed to identify the association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with schizophrenia and use of long acting antipsychotics. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. The data of 252 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were obtained from the medical records of the psychiatry departments of Kirklareli State Hospital and Golbasi State Hospital. The patients were grouped according to whether they had used LAI antipsychotics or not. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were compared between patients with and without use of long acting antipsychotics. Results: In the LAI antipsychotic group (n=96), onset of illness was earlier and duration of schizophrenia was longer. The percentage of history of violent behaviour, suicide attempts and family history of schizophrenia were significantly higher in the LAI antipsychotic group. An earlier age of onset, a more significant history of suicide attempts, a history of violent behaviour and a family history of schizophrenia were found to be predictors of LAI antipsychotic use. Conclusion: Relapses due to poor adherence to treatment can be overcome by LAI antipsychotics. In addition to the familiar causes of nonadherence, the specific predictors of use of LAI antipsychotics should be carefully noted and patients should be initiated on LAI antipsychotics even when they are in the early phases of illness.