Patients on Clozapine Found to Significantly Increase Use of Community-Based MH Programs

Individuals with schizophrenia who began treatment with clozapine significantly increased their use of community-based services and decreased their use of psychiatric inpatient services over the next six months, according to areport inPsychiatric Servicesin Advance.“Entering community-based care is a major goal in the recovery and optimization of longitudinal outcomes of individuals with schizophrenia,” wrote Deepak Sarpal, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues. “Our results suggest that clozapine treatment shifts resources from costly inp atient care to services focused on community-based care and long-term recovery, regardless of the patient’s age, gender, or race.”Sarpal and colleagues examined data from the Allegheny County Data Warehouse of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which includes information on the utilization of more than 20 Medicaid- and county-funded behavioral public benefit programs; these programs include treatment for mental substance use disorders, community services such as residential housing programs, and forensic services such as involuntary commitment. The researchers identified 163 adults (aged 18 to 65) with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who received their first clozapine prescription between 2009 and 2016 and took the medication regularly for six months.Among these individuals, only 20 required inpatient hospitalization over six months of treatment, compared with 92 who required hospitalization in the six months prio...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Allegheny County Data Warehouse clozapine community-based services Deepak Sarpal Psychiatric Services schizophrenia Source Type: research