Auckland doctors over-prescribing antipsychotics

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-05-17 15:18

New Zealand

One in seven mental health patients are prescribed a high-dose antipsychotic, according to a large audit in Auckland. More than one in four are also prescribed multiple kinds of antipsychotic. That runs in contrast to clinical recommendations, which say these drugs should be given at the lowest effective dose, and just one type of antipsychotic should be prescribed. Both practices increase the risk of illness and death, and Māori, and those who have to receive compulsory treatment are more likely to be given high doses. The researchers say the practice should be further investigated to find out if doctors are properly weighing the benefits and the risks.

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conference: Psychiatry Research

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Organisation/s: University of Auckland, Auckland District Health Board

Funder: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Declaration of conflicting interests AC reports consultancy fees from a UCL-Business spin-out company Spoonful of Sugar Ltd; grants from Innovate UK, A+ charitable trust (Auckland District Health Board), Maurice and Phyllis Paykel trust, Universitas 21, NZPERF, Auckland Academic Health Alliance, Asthma UK, and University of Auckland; and grants and consultancy fees from Janssen-Cilag. AC is the recipient of the Robert Irwin Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Medicines NZ award, outside the submitted work. KB and JH reports grants A+ charitable trust (Auckland District Health Board), Universitas 21, and NZPERF. All other author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

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