Tardive dyskinesia in outpatients on depot phenothiazine

Two hundred and thirty-two psychiatric Outpatients on depot fluphenazine decanoate for more than six months were examined for Tardive Dyskinesia (TD), using the AIMS rating scale, and the prevalence rates of TD at different criteria of severity were assessed. The prevalence rates ranged from 7% for patients with severe TD to 45% for patients with any degree of TD. The sex distribution of patients with TD showed no bias but the female patients were significantly older than the male patients. Increases in prevalence rates of TD were associated with the combination of an anticholinergic anti-Parkinsonian drug with the depot neuroleptic, and with the concomitant use of an oral neuroleptic with the depot preparation. Implications of these findings for the long-term management of schizophrenia are discussed.