Assesment of Risk Factors for Tardive Dyskinesia.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Neurology
• Clinical Pharmacology

Background:

• Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a potential long-term side effect of antipsychotic (APD) medications.
• Identifying risk factors for TD is crucial for patient management and prevention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with the development of Tardive dyskinesia (TD).

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 80 patients (50 with TD, 30 controls) from an outpatient psychiatry clinic.
• Data collection included face-to-face interviews and retrospective medical record review.

Main Results:

• Significant differences between TD and control groups included later onset of psychiatric disease (≥35 years), later first APD use (≥35 years), use of long-acting injectable APD, history of extrapyramidal side effects, history of akathisia, and family history of psychiatric disease.
• No significant differences were found in psychiatric diagnoses, recovery periods, duration of APD use (≥10 years), APD holidays, regular APD use, ECT history, or substance use.

Conclusions:

• Advancing age emerged as the most significant risk factor for TD development.
• Clinicians must be vigilant regarding TD risk in elderly patients prescribed APDs.