Risk of discontinuation of antipsychotic long-acting injections vs. oral antipsychotics in real-life prescribing
H Verdoux1,2, E Pambrun1, M Tournier1,2
1INSERM, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Team Pharmaco-Epidemiology, UMR 1219, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Objective:
To compare the risk of discontinuation of ambulatory antipsychotic treatment in persons treated with antipsychotic long-acting injections (LAIs) or by oral antipsychotics (OAPs).
Methods:
The study was performed in a representative sample of persons newly treated with OAPs (n = 6904) affiliated to the French Insurance Healthcare system. The risk of all-cause discontinuation was compared in patients prescribed OAPs (n = 246) vs. matched patients prescribed LAIs (n = 246) using multivariate survival analyses. Confounding by indication was minimized by matching on type of antipsychotic drug and by the high-dimensional propensity score method.
Results:
Discontinuation was more frequent with OAPs (69%) compared to LAIs (57%) [adjusted relative risk (aRR) = 1.6, 95% CI 1.23-2.07]. Risk of discontinuation was higher for first-generation (FGA) OAPs vs. FGA LAIs (aRR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.22-3.08) as well as for second-generation (SGA) OAPs vs. SGA LAIs (aRR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.15-2.17). Over the 6-month period after discontinuation of LAIs, a new antipsychotic drug was dispensed in 58% of patients, the most frequent pattern being dispensing of the same LAI as that prescribed before discontinuation.
Conclusions:
Although less frequent than with OAPs, the rate of ambulatory treatment discontinuation was high with LAIs. Prescription of LAIs should be associated with intervention strategies aimed at promoting medication adherence.
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