by Eric Hughes, M.D., Ph.D.
Societal perceptions of schizophrenia are sometimes sensationalized and shrouded in stigmas that may result in misconceptions and the unfold of inaccurate data each exterior and throughout the neighborhood. These unfavorable or false beliefs can come from media, cultural attitudes, and institutional bias (employers, police, and even the medical neighborhood), impacting sufferers’ therapy journeys and doubtlessly preserving them from optimizing their illness administration.
Amongst sufferers with schizophrenia, caregivers, and well being care suppliers, a typical false impression is that use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) is just acceptable for extreme circumstances. Nonetheless, LAIs could also be appropriate for a wide range of sufferers and even utilized in early therapy to permit for improved adherence – the affected person receiving the medicine as prescribed – and high quality of life. For that reason, they’re sometimes really helpful to sufferers preferring LAIs or who could battle to stick to a each day oral routine.
As well as, relapse continues to be an ongoing and complicated problem confronted by many schizophrenia sufferers, with charges estimated to be between 50-92% globally. LAIs assist to take care of secure blood ranges and have been proven to scale back the chance of relapse. Regardless of the confirmed effectiveness, LAIs are solely used as first-line therapy choices within the U.S. about 4% of the time.
It’s vital to make clear a number of the different frequent misconceptions of LAIs, together with:
False impression #1: Remedy price is out of attain
A large number of private and non-private insurance coverage may also help cowl the price of LAI antipsychotics, and in some circumstances the drug producer can also present help.
False impression #2: Sufferers favor oral therapy
Within the well being care neighborhood, oral medicine is often the usual first alternative therapy of schizophrenia, particularly for first-episode sufferers, as a result of assumption that sufferers favor it. Nonetheless, there are examples of schizophrenia sufferers and their kin with favorable notion of LAIs. Due to this fact, it’s vital for well being care suppliers to supply injectable LAIs as an choice to their sufferers early of their therapy journey, which permits sufferers to debate advantages and dangers of various therapy choices with their medical doctors to seek out the one most acceptable for them.
False impression #3: Remedy with LAIs is a punishment
A psychotic episode is usually a traumatic expertise which may be additional compounded by a necessity for hospitalization, which may depart sufferers ambivalent about receiving medicines involuntarily. Traditionally, this has created a unfavorable notion of injectable therapies, however attitudes could change throughout illness relapse and remission durations. Right now’s LAIs provide therapy choices for sufferers and medical doctors that will assist meet the affected person’s wants or preferences.
Elevating consciousness of those misconceptions has the potential to assist sufferers and caregivers contemplate essentially the most acceptable therapy possibility for them. Ought to any particular person consider LAIs could also be useful to their therapy journey, they’re inspired to begin a dialog with their physician.
Eric Hughes, M.D., Ph.D., is the manager vice chairman of worldwide analysis and growth and chief medical officer at Teva Prescribed drugs.
October 2023
PSYCH-40561
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