Use of psychiatric medications in schizophrenia and other psychoses in a general population sample

• In all diagnostic groups, higher symptom scores, and higher number of hospital days associated to use of antipsychotics.
• In schizophrenia and other psychoses, also poorer social and occupational functioning, and in other psychoses female gender and lower education associated statistically significantly with use of antipsychotics.
• A lack of current psychosocial treatment setting was found among a third of the schizophrenia subjects and over half of bipolar psychosis or psychotic depression and other psychoses.
• These results may for a part indicate that the effectiveness of antipsychotics is not as good as expected, and that there is an obvious lack of regular psychosocial treatment contacts.

The information on the use of psychiatric medications in general population-based samples is limited. Our aim was to analyse the use of psychiatric medications and factors associated with antipsychotic use in psychoses in a general population sample. Fifty-five persons with schizophrenia, 21 with bipolar psychosis or psychotic depression and 20 with other psychoses from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 were examined at about 43 years of age. The frequency of use and dosage of psychiatric medication and the factors associated with the use of antipsychotics were analysed. Antipsychotics were used by 85% of schizophrenia, 65% of bipolar psychosis or psychotic depression and 62% of other psychoses cases; antidepressants were used by 22%, 60% and 33%; and benzodiazepines by 42%, 35% and 10%, respectively. In all the diagnostic groups, higher symptom scores and a higher number of hospital days were associated with the use of antipsychotics. In schizophrenia and other psychoses, poorer social and occupational functioning, and in other psychoses, female gender and lower education were also associated with the use of antipsychotics. Our results may partly indicate that, especially in schizophrenia, the effectiveness of antipsychotics is not as good as expected.