NEUROLEPTIC DOSING IN ASIAN AND HISPANIC OUTPATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Recent studies suggest that minorities may have higher plasma levels c aused by ethnic variations in pharmacokinetics under standard neurolep tic treatment; they would be at increased risk for extrapyramidal side effects and more likely to be treatment noncompliant. This study exam ined the prescribing pattern of antipsychotic medication to minority s chizophrenics in outpatient psychiatric programs developed to meet the ir treatment needs. A computer search was conducted of registered clie nts in a Hispanic and Asian outpatient clinic(s). Hispanic and Asian p atients with schizophrenia were identified and for purposes of compari son, a third sample of consecutively drawn outpatients with a diagnosi s of ''schizophrenia'' registered in the outpatient clinic proper were selected. All outpatient medical records were secured and neuroleptic dosing patterns extracted and quantified. Neuroleptic doses were conv erted to chlorpromazine equivalents and corrected for body weight to a standard of 68 kg. One-way analysis of variance procedures were used to compare both the actual and standardized neuroleptic doses across t he three samples and revealed a significant main effect for both actua l (p < 0.05) and standardized dose (p < 0.05). With regard to the form er, secondary analysis yielded significant differences between the cli nic sample and the Hispanic (p < 0.05) and Asian (p < 0.05) samples, w hich did not differ significantly from each other but which received s ignificantly less drugs than the other patient population. These resul ts were similar to the standardized dose comparison. The findings repl icate previous inpatient reports and have implications for cross-cultu ral treatment programs.