Representatives from Holmusk recently attended the AMCP Nexus 2022 conference and shared findings from a study about antipsychotic prescribing for patients with schizophrenia.  

Although patients commonly switch medications during the course of treatment, there are not many available that reflect real-world clinical decision making. To address this gap, the study drew de-identified, longitudinal clinical data from Holmusk’s industry-leading database for behavioral health. The researchers then leveraged NeuroBlu, Holmusk’s flagship data analytics platform, to generate real-world evidence that could shed new light into antipsychotic prescribing patterns.

The study included over 5,000 patients with schizophrenia who were prescribed at least one antipsychotic for at least 14 days. Findings showed that treatment switching was indeed common, with 890 unique combinations of treatment sequences. The majority of treatment changes involved switching between second-generation antipsychotics, which are recommended in clinical guidelines to maintain cases of schizophrenia.

“This analysis reveals the complexity of real-world antipsychotic prescribing when treating patients with schizophrenia,” said Rashmi Patel, MD, PhD, Holmusk’s Vice President for Medical & Scientific Affairs and lead author of the poster. “While these data are illuminating, further research is needed to determine the causes of treatment switching in order to better inform clinical care. This could be attributed to many factors, such as problems with tolerability, lack of patient adherence, or patient preference.”

View the poster here.