Patterns of antipsychotic drug use in four Southeastern state hospitals.

The drug prescriptions of patients in the four mental hospitals of a state were obtained as of a specific date and subjected to various analyses. The results disclose a high frequency of antiparkinson drug orders (41.5% of the patients), their relationship to polypharmacy (30% of the antipsychotic drug prescriptions were for two or more to be administered simultaneously), the direct relationship between the antipsychotic dose level and antiparkinson drug and PRN orders and the incidence of multiple dose schedules (75%). Also other prescription practices which have received little or no attention are described and discussed.