Less medication switching after initial start with atypical antipsychotics

We investigated the extent and time of switching to another oral antipsychotic in newly admitted in-patients that started oral antipsychotic therapy. In a retrospective follow-up study of 522 newly admitted patients who started with an oral antipsychotic, we applied a case-control analysis considering patients switching to another oral antipsychotics as cases. Association between patient characteristics and switching antipsychotic medication was evaluated using logistic regression analysis. A Kaplan-Meier plot was performed to analyse time to switch. Patients initially treated with an oral typical antipsychotic showed a twofold increased risk to switch to another antipsychotic compared to patients treated with an oral atypical antipsychotic (adjusted OR = 1.79 95% CI = 1.15-2.78). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that patients started with a typical antipsychotic switched sooner compared to patients on atypical antipsychotics. Atypical antipsychotics are less frequently associated with switching in comparison with typical antipsychotics suggesting overall better treatment satisfaction. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V./ECNP. All rights reserved.