Schizophrenia treatment less than ideal?

Abstract

The effective treatment of patients with schizophrenia is a worldwide public health challenge. Improvements in treatment can have a significant impact on patient morbidity, mortality and quality of life, as well as on both direct and indirect health costs. Recently, the US Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) ^* conducted a survey that was designed to assess to what extent usual care for schizophrenia complies with the team’s recent treatment recommendations. ¹ The Schizophrenia PORT recommendations themselves are the result of a 5-year analysis of published research on schizophrenia conducted by more than 15 scientists from 3 major research centres in the US. ² According to the results of this landmark survey, fewer than 505 of US patient with schizophrenia receive adequate dosages of antipsychotic medications or appropriate psychosocial interventions.