A survey study of the satisfaction and attitude of the Korean psychiatrists toward antipsychotic polypharmacy.

BACKGROUND

Antipsychotic polypharmacy (AP) to treat patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder is commonly prescribed in clinical practice; however, evidence supporting its use is scarce. This study surveyed South Korean psychiatrists' rationale for AP.

METHODS

Psychiatrists were interviewed using a newly developed, semi-structured questionnaire inquiring about AP attitudes and behaviors, including frequency of use, rationale, concerns, and preferred combinations.

RESULTS

Compared with the high-prescribing AP group (≥10 patients a day; HAP group), the low-prescribing AP group (≤9 patients a day; LAP group) tended to work in a university general hospital, publish more research papers a year, attend more psychiatric conferences, prescribe more 2-antipsychotic combinations, and have more satisfaction with AP. Psychiatrists were satisfied with the therapeutic response with AP (rating 6.4±1.5). Psychiatrists felt concern about AP (rating 4.7±1.6), mostly because of its higher risk of chronic adverse effects.

CONCLUSIONS

In South Korean psychiatric practices, the LAP group seems to pay closer attention to AP than the HAP group does. However, both the HAP and LAP groups share similar attitudes toward satisfaction, concerns, and preferred combinations of AP.