Antipsychotic prescription patterns in Xhosa patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder

To examine the degree to which South African physicians use similar treatment guidelines in their prescription of antipsychotic medication.

Data on the prescriptions for Xhosa patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder were retrospectively examined to investigate differences between three catchment areas in the Western Cape, especially in terms of clozapine use.

There was an overall low rate (10.0%) of clozapine use and a relatively high occurrence of polypharmacy (28.6% of 510 patients). There were statistically significant differences between the three catchment areas in terms of clozapine (p=0.002) and haloperidol (p=0.001) use. Valkenberg hospital had the highest number of clozapine prescriptions and the lowest of haloperidol. Prescriptions of depot antipsychotics did not differ between catchment areas.

Discrepancies in antipsychotic medicine prescription patterns were evident between the examined hospitals. It is becoming paramount for practical implementation of guidelines to be improved in South Africa to address, e.g., low clozapine use and the high frequency of polypharmacy.