Table 1.
Sample characteristics of patients prescribed monotherapy and antipsychotic polypharmacy (n = 10 945)
| Variables | Monotherapya n (%) | Antipsychotic polypharmacya n (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 8421 (76.9) | 2524 (23.1) |
| Sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors | ||
| Age mean (SD) | 42.2 (15.4) | 38.1 (13.5) |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 3737 (44.4) | 1054 (41.8) |
| Male | 4684 (55.6) | 1470 (58.2) |
| Ethnicity group | ||
| British | 3160 (37.6) | 838 (33.2) |
| Other White | 791 (9.4) | 184 (7.3) |
| Asian | 566 (6.7) | 159 (6.3) |
| Caribbean | 1072 (12.7) | 354 (14.0) |
| Black African | 2198 (26.1) | 813 (32.2) |
| Other | 634 (7.5) | 176 (7.0) |
| Employment | ||
| Not in paid employment | 8132 (96.6) | 2461 (97.5) |
| Paid employment | 289 (3.4) | 63 (2.5) |
| Relationship status | ||
| No relationship | 7198 (85.5) | 2303 (91.2) |
| Relationship | 1223 (14.5) | 221 (8.8) |
| Deprivation level in area of residence | ||
| Low level | 2726 (32.6) | 805 (32.2) |
| Medium level | 2758 (33.0) | 808 (32.3) |
| High level | 2742 (32.8) | 821 (32.9) |
| Homelessness | 135 (1.6) | 65 (2.6) |
| Clinical factors | ||
| Schizophrenia (ICD‐10: F20) | 5896 (70.0) | 1950 (77.3) |
| Schizoaffective disorder (ICD‐10: F25) | 639 (7.6) | 235 (9.3) |
| Bipolar affective disorder (ICD‐10: F31) | 1886 (22.4) | 339 (13.4) |
| Comorbid depression (ICD‐10: F32‐33) | ||
| No | 7235 (85.9) | 2223 (88.1) |
| Yes | 1186 (14.1) | 301 (11.9) |
| Comorbid personality disorder (ICD‐10: F60‐61) | ||
| No | 7642 (90.8) | 2145 (85.0) |
| Yes | 779 (9.2) | 379 (15.0) |
| Comorbid substance usea (ICD‐10: F10‐16) | ||
| No | 7581 (90.0) | 2252 (89.2) |
| Yes | 840 (10.0) | 272 (10.8) |
| Time known to SLAM (days) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 1603.5 (1138.2) | 2223.9 (1468.9) |
| %BNF | ||
| Mean (SD) | 45.8 (36.8) | 101.8 (68.8) |
| Olanzapine equivalence dose | ||
| 1–10 mg | 4341 (55.7) | 134 (6.0) |
| 11–20 mg | 2427 (31.2) | 557 (25.0) |
| 21 + mg | 1022 (13.1) | 1536 (69.0) |
| Smoking | ||
| Never smoked | 3016 (35.8) | 374 (14.8) |
| Have smoked ever | 5405 (64.2) | 2150 (85.2) |
a
There was a significant difference between groups for all factors, apart from comorbid substance use (P = 0.242).