Preliminary exploration of the current use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics in Canadian early intervention services for psychosis.
Poster B80, Friday, October 21, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Philip Tibbo1, Amelie Achim2, Ashok Malla3, Nicola Banks4, Marc-Andre Roy2; 1Dalhousie University, 2Universite Laval, 3McGill University, 4Myelin and Associates
Members of the Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis (CCEIP), a national body of early intervention services (EIS) clinicians, published in 2013 the “Canadian Recommendations for the Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics (LAIs).” One of the recommendations included early use in the first two to five years of illness; greater use of LAIs during the early course may prevent relapses, prolong periods of remission, and facilitate engagement in interventions in patients otherwise unlikely to engage in these aspects of treatment. Recently, discussions in various venues have focused on the low overall use of LAIs in Canada, despite anecdotal evidence that this may not be the case in EISs. Marketing data available does not allow us to assess current rates of LAI use in Canadian EISs. To assess the impact of the published Canadian LAI recommendations, a formal in depth survey is planned. A pilot survey supported this direction. In this pilot investigation, 10 academic EIS in Canada were preliminarily surveyed on their use of LAIs (1,555 EIS subjects; 71% were male). Of this EIS population, 474 (31%), were on LAI antipsychotic medication - with a higher proportion in programs with longer follow up and with dedicated beds.. The aggregate proportion of those who were on LAIs and in their first year of illness was 23%. These and other preliminary data will be discussed, as while early data indicates good uptake of LAI use in Canadian EIS, further detailed examination will assess the impact of the Canadian Recommendations.
Topic Area: Psychopharmacology