Less medication switching after initial start with atypical antipsychotics

We investigated the extent and time of switching to another oral antipsychotic in newly admitted in-patients that started oral antipsychotic therapy. In a retrospective follow-up study of 522 newly admitted patients who started with an oral antipsychotic, we applied a case-control analysis considering patients switching to another oral antipsychotics as cases. Association between patient characteristics and switching antipsychotic medication was evaluated using logistic regression analysis. A Kaplan–Meier plot was performed to analyse time to switch. Patients initially treated with an oral typical antipsychotic showed a twofold increased risk to switch to another antipsychotic compared to patients treated with an oral atypical antipsychotic (adjusted OR=1.79 95% CI=1.15–2.78). The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that patients started with a typical antipsychotic switched sooner compared to patients on atypical antipsychotics. Atypical antipsychotics are less frequently associated with switching in comparison with typical antipsychotics suggesting overall better treatment satisfaction.