Objective: To determine the rates of antidepressant and antipsychotic use in the treatment of schizophrenia.
Method: The primary therapists at 8 community mental health centres in a metropolitan Canadian city completed a survey questionnaire for all of their active clients. Information was collected about diagnoses, medication treatments, and clinical variables.
Results: There were 3555 clients, 1552 (43.7%) of which had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Of clients with schizophrenia, 94% were prescribed antipsychotic medications, and 11.6% of these were also prescribed antidepressant medications. There were differences between the combination-treatment group and the antipsychotic-alone group in gender ratio, rates of concurrent diagnoses of mood disorder, level of current functioning, and total number of hospitalizations.
Conclusion: In this community-based sample of clients with schizophrenia, antidepressants and antipsychotics are commonly prescribed in combination, even though the rate of concurrent mood disorders diagnoses is low. Further studies should clarify the efficacy and indications for antidepressant use in this population.