Subacute psychiatric hospitalization unit: The role of clozapine

Abstract

Introduction

Several studies report that Clozapine is more effective in reducing symptoms of schizophrenia, producing clinically meaningful improvements and postponing relapse than other antipsychotic strategies.

Objectives

To analyze the prescription of Clozapine in a sample of 88 inpatients admitted to a subacute psychiatric hospitalization unit.

Methods

This is a transversal study. All patients admitted for a medium-term psychiatric treatment since 01/06/2014 to 30/11/2015 were included. Data about socio-demographical status and clinical situation were obtained and compiled in a database. This study compares patients receiving clozapine treatment with those who receive other psychopharmacologic treatment. Statistics were performed using SPSS Software.

Results

Eighty-eight patients (52% men; mean age: 48.6 years) composed the sample. In 58% of cases, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder were the diagnoses motivating the admission. Within the 51 patients with Schizophrenia o Schizoaffective Disorder, 16 of them (31.4%) received Clozapine. Comparing clozapine group vs non-clozapine group, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of sex, civil state or working state. Instead, Clozapine group patients were older, had a major number of previous hospitalization admissions and had a larger trajectory of their disorder.

Conclusions

Patients requiring treatment with Clozapine had a major number of hospital admissions and had more often committed suicide attempts, suggesting a more severe course of the disorder. They were older than the non-clozapine group. Clozapine is delayed in its use among resistant-treatment patients. It is worth highlighting that only 16 cases of Schizophrenia inpatients received Clozapina. It could mean that Clozapine is underprescribed.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.