Clozapine eligibility among state hospital patients

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1996

Abstract

Connecticut State Hospital's entire resident population (n = 1,300) was screened on an arbitrary target day to determine eligibility for clozapine. Sixty percent of 803 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder diagnoses met Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved criteria for clozapine use as judged by review of past medication trial records and by the responsible physician. Eighty-eight percent of these patients were medically cleared, and of those cleared, 63 percent agreed to clozapine treatment. Of the patients who began a clozapine trial, 76 percent were still taking the drug 12 months later. Preliminary findings from a randomized trial of clozapine versus usual care (n = 227) indicate that discharge rates associated with clozapine and usual care do not differ. Once discharged, however, patients assigned to clozapine are less likely to be readmitted. Hence, clozapine may be more cost-effective than usual care. However, before savings can be realized, State governments will have to make up-front investments of approximately $140 million simply to give patients hospitalized on a single day a year's access to clozapine.

Comments

Copyright 1996 Oxford University Press, Schizophrenia Bulletin

A link to full-text has been provided for authorized subscribers.

Publication Title

Schizophrenia Bulletin

Published Citation

Essock, S. M., Hargreaves, W. A., Dohm, F. A., & Goethe, J. W., et al. (1996). Clozapine eligibility among state hospital patients. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 22(1), 15-25.

DOI

10.1093/schbul/22.1.15

Peer Reviewed

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