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Antipsychotic Prescription Filling in Patients With Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder

Objective Assessment of factors influencing antipsychotic prescription fills in the early phase of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Methods We used the Swedish Patient Register to identify patients younger than 45 years with a first hospitalization for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder between 2006 and 2007 (904 patients). Data on medication were obtained from the Prescribed Drug Register. Filling a prescription of an antipsychotic drug after discharge was used to estimate medication adherence. In Cox regression models, we studied sex, country of birth, metropolitan residence, educational level, age, duration of hospitalization, history of substance use disorder, and previous use of antipsychotic drugs as predictors for antipsychotic fills. Results Among all patients, 53.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 49.9%–56.4%) had filled an antipsychotic prescription within 1 week from discharge. After 6 months, the proportion had increased to 80.2% (95% CI, 77.4%–82.8%) with no further increase thereafter. Prescription filling of an antipsychotic drug was primarily associated with antipsychotic use before the hospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.33–2.03; for patients with access to antipsychotic drugs at admission compared with no previous use) and with longer hospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.27–2.02 for 15–28 days compared with shorter hospitalization). Conclusions Among patients who filled a prescription of an antipsychotic drug after discharge, the majority did so within 1 week. Previous adherent use of antipsychotic drugs and longer hospitalization may be predictors of primary adherence to antipsychotic drug treatment in schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.