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Perceptions and knowledge of antipsychotics among mental health professionals and patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Lindah Cahling
Affiliation:
PRIMA, Stockholm, Sweden
Anders Berntsson
Affiliation:
PRIMA, Stockholm, Sweden
Gabriella Bröms
Affiliation:
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Lars Öhrmalm*
Affiliation:
PRIMA, Stockholm, Sweden Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Abstract

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Aims and method

To assess the patients' most influential concerns regarding long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) and mental health professionals' preconceptions about these concerns. For both groups, to assess the level of knowledge about LAIs. This cross-sectional study used semi-structured interviews of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n = 164), nurses (n = 43) and physicians (n = 20).

Results

The mental health professionals overestimated many of the patients' fears of LAIs, and the expressed fears exceeded the actual experiences of patients already on LAIs. Acceptance to switch to LAIs was associated with shorter time from diagnosis. Nurses and patients disclosed limited knowledge of antipsychotics.

Clinical implications

Physicians and nurses should aim to identify the individual patient's concerns about LAIs in the discussion about choice of antipsychotic treatment early in the course of illness.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an open-access article published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 The Authors

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

L.Ö. has received speaker honoraria from Otsuka Pharma Scandinavia AB and H. Lundbeck AB, and has accepted travel and hospitality payment from Otsuka Pharma Scandinavia AB.

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