Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T13:11:31.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Do we need a European consensus on the use of antipsychotic medication?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

S Dollfus
Affiliation:
Centre Esquirol, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire, Côte de Nacre, 14000 Caen, France
J van Os
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, LondonSE5 8AF, UK
M Petit
Affiliation:
Centre Hospitalier du Rouvray, 76301 Sotteville-les-Rouen, France
Get access

Summary

Recently, much effort has been directed towards reaching a consensus on the use of antipsychotic medication in the United Kingdom (UK) and in France. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that any differences that may exist between practitioners in the UK are only minor in comparison to those between practitioners in the various countries in the European Union. A comparison was conducted of the number of prescribed antipsychotic compounds, as well as their way of administration, in two samples of schizophrenic patients in the UK and France. French patients were much more likely to have been prescribed two or more antipsychotic compounds, either alone (relative risk: RR = 26.3; 95% CI: 3.8-190.6), or in combination with a depot preparation (RR = ∞; Fisher's exact test P = 0.04). British patients were more likely to have been prescribed a single depot preparation (RR = 4.7; 95% CI: 2.3-9.9). These disparities are related to contrasting views on the properties and indications of antipsychotics in the two countries. Given these disparities, working towards a European consensus appears essential.

Type
Original articles
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association Third ed, revised (DSM-III-R) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Washington DC: APA, 1987Google Scholar
Ballet, G. La Psychose Hallucinatoire Chronique. Encéphale 1911; 11: 401411Google Scholar
Ban, TA. Drug treatment in schizophrenia. Can Psychiatr Ass J 1971; 16: 473485Google Scholar
Delay, JDeniker, PFourment, P. Nouveaux types d'accidents nerveux dus à un médicament neuroleptique. La prochlorpérazine Ann Méd Psychol 1957 3 510513Google Scholar
Deniker, PGinestet, DNeuroleptiques Paris: EMC Psychiatry, 1973 3786U.B20Google Scholar
Dollfus, SPetit, MLesieur, PMenard, JF. Principal component analyses of PANSS and SAPS-SANS in schizophrenia. Eur Psychiatry 1991; 6: 251259CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fombonne, EMousson, BDassonville, B, et al.Étude des prescriptions de médicaments psychotropes dans un hôpital psychiatrique français. Rev Épidem Santé Publ 1989; 37: 2936Google Scholar
Holloway, F. Prescribing for the long-term mentally ill, a study of treatment practices. Br J Psychiatry 1988; 152: 511515CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, PBBebbington, PFoerster, A, et al.Premorbid social underachievement in schizophrenia. Results from the Camberwell Collaborative Psychosis Study. Br J Psychiatry 1993; 162: 6571CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, SRFiszbein, AOpler, LA. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophren Bull 1987; 13: 261276CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petit, MDollfus, S. Chimiothérapies des schizophrénies à prédominance déficitaire Encéphale 1991 XVII 241245Google Scholar
Spitzer, RLEndicott, JRobins, E. Research diagnostic criteria. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978; 35: 773782CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, C. The use of high-dose antipsychotic medication. Br J Psychiatry 1994; 164: 448459CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van, Os JGaldos, PLewis, GMann, ABourgeois, M. Schizophrenia sans frontières: concepts of schizophrenia among French and British Psychiatrists. Br Med J 1993; 307: 489492CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van, Os JFahy, TBebbington, PJones, P, et al.The influence of life events on the subsequent course of psychotic illness Psychologic Med 1994 24 503513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Win, JKCooper, JESartorius, NThe Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.