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.1The 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.2According 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.