Report reveals wide variations in the prescribing of
antipsychotics
An 8.7-fold variation in the prescribing of atypical
antipsychotic drugs exists across the United Kingdom, according to research
published this week by the Zito Trust. This is despite evidence and guidelines
that support their use over older medicines.
The research examines whether people with schizophrenia
in the UK have equal access to newer treatments and shows that, as a percentage
of all antipsychotic prescriptions, newer atypical antipsychotic drugs
make up between 5.05 and 44.1 per cent depending on the geographical area
being examined.
In the report, “The practice gap in schizophrenia”,
Dr Martin Deahl, consultant and senior lecturer in psychological medicine,
St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, says: “The variation around the country
is serious — the national service framework was supposed to address postcode
prescribing. Maybe the NICE review will help, though the experience in
other disease areas is not encouraging.”
He adds that it is no longer enough for an antipsychotic
drug to control only positive symptoms. “Drug treatment today must have
a side effect profile that is acceptable to patients so that we can be
sure that they will take it. The least effective drug is one that patients
will not take.”
Speaking to The Journal on 10 July David
Taylor, chief pharmacist at the Maudsley Hospital, London said that the
data reported by the Zito Trust probably reflected the variation in funding
of atypical antipsychotic drugs across the UK.
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