Clozapine Prescribing in a Canadian Outpatient Population

OBJECTIVE: Description of demographics of an outpatient population of clozapine users. METHODS: Retrospective chart review study of an urban population diagnosed with schizophrenia. Assessment of therapeutic histories in relation to clinical practice guidelines. RESULTS: Seventy-seven of the 467 patients were on clozapine therapy. Average patients' age was 39.4 ± 11.8 years) and 68% were males. The majority of patients (68%) had tried 3 or more antipsychotics before switching to clozapine, 21% had tried two and 11% had tried one. Median length of therapy prior to clozapine initiation was 8.9 years in males and 7.7 years in females. CONCLUSION: Until 2010, the use of clozapine was often delayed and more than 2 antipsychotic medications were tried for relatively long periods of time before patients were switched to this effective agent.