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Electrocardiograms, high-dose antipsychotic treatment and College guidelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Christopher Krasucki*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ
Fran McFarlane
Affiliation:
Bethlem Royal Hospital
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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A cross-sectional survey of all in-patients at a psychiatric hospital was performed to see to what extent College guidelines on neuroleptic prescribing were being adhered to. Thirteen (7.3%) patients were found to be on high doses and one (0.6%) on megadoses. Only 23% in the high-dose group had had an ECG at all, and Just 7.7% had had one in the previous three months. The single patient on megadose treatment had had an ECG but not In the previous three months. Prescribing habits that could potentially have led to 21.9% of patients receiving high doses and 9.0% megadoses were identified, and reasons for the low rate of ECGs discussed.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996

References

McGrath, P. J., Blood, D. K., Stewart, J. W., et al (1987) A comparative study of the electrocardiographic effects of phenelzine, tricyclic antidepressants, mianserin, and placebo. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 7, 335339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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Thompson, C. (1994) The use of high-dose antipsychotic medication. Consensus Statement. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 448458.Google Scholar
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