Major tranquilizer usage in psychiatric patients at Veterans Administration treatment facilities

Three comprehensive surveys of psychiatric drug usage in Veterans Administration (VA) treatment settings, including psychiatric wards of VA hospitals, outpatient or ambulatory programs, and chronic care facilities, show thioridazine to be the most widely prescribed major tranquilizer. Among 28,323 psychiatric patients with orders for major tranquilizers, 7,719 (27.3%) had prescriptions for thioridazine. In domiciliaries and nursing homes, where patients more advanced in age are treated, 43.8% of orders for major tranquilizers were for thioridazine. Concomitant prescription of antiparkinsonian drugs was considerably less frequent with thioridazine, with only 8.7% of patients receiving such agents as compared with up to 42.5% of patients with orders for other major tranquilizers.