Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
BACKGROUND: Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) is a major cause of disability. Clozapine is currently the only antipsychotic medication licensed for its treatment. However, the rate of treatment resistance among outpatients with schizophrenia or other psychoses, and the rate of use of clozapine among them, is not known. AIMS: The aims of this study are (a) to determine the point prevalence of treatment-resistant psychosis in a community sample, and (b) to determine the number of patients with TRS who have never had a clozapine trial. METHOD: Clinico-demographic data were extracted from the case notes for 202 patients from two community mental-health teams. RESULTS: =0.009). The point prevalence of treatment resistance within the bipolar affective disorder sample was 19% (5/26). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that TRS is common in the community mental-health team, and a large proportion of these patients have not received clozapine. These findings indicate that identifying and treating treatment resistance should be a focus of community services for schizophrenia.
Beck et al. (Wed,) studied this question.