Attitudes toward long-acting injectable antipsychotics among patients with schizophrenia in Japan

Pre-emptive ice pack cryotherapy for reducing pain caused by long-acting deltoid injectable antipsychotic treatment: A single-center open-label study

PURPOSE

This empirical study aims to investigate the efficacy of pre-emptive cryotherapy in reducing pain that is caused by the deltoid intramuscular (IM) injection of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics in clinical settings.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This study included 29 outpatients receiving LAI antipsychotic treatment. The evaluations of pain during (1) the usual procedure (control), (2) pre-emptive use of ice pack cryotherapy (pre-cooling), and (3) pre-emptive use of a room-temperature ice pack (pre-touching) were conducted using a numerical rating scale (NRS) for comparison. All patients were administered with LAI antipsychotics via deltoid IM. Furthermore, the results of the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), clinical global impressions (CGI) scale, and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale that were administered during the control procedure were evaluated.

RESULTS

The median NRS pain scores during the IM injection of LAI antipsychotics were 4.0 (3.0-5.0), 2.0 (1.0-3.0), and 3.0 (2.5-6.0) for the control, pre-cooling, and pre-touching conditions, indicating a significant difference (p = 6.0 × 10-6). The NRS pain scores for the pre-cooling condition were significantly lower than those for the control and pre-touching conditions (p = 2.5 × 10-5 and 6.7 × 10-5, respectively). No significant correlation was observed between the NRS pain scores for the control condition and the PANSS, CGI scale, or GAF scale scores. Furthermore, no adverse events were recorded during the study period.

CONCLUSION

Pain during the deltoid IM injection of LAI antipsychotics was found to be reduced by pre-emptive skin cooling. To date, this is the first study to confirm the effectiveness of pre-emptive cryotherapy for relieving such pain in clinical situations.

A Systematic Review on the Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs on the Quality of Life of Patients with Schizophrenia

Pharmacological antipsychotic drug interventions represent the cornerstone of the management of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic spectrum disorders. The choice of the "best" treatment should be made on the basis of several clinical domains. However, despite available treatments, the quality of life reported by patients with schizophrenia taking antipsychotics is still very poor, and this outcome is rarely taken into account in trials assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments. Therefore, we performed a systematic review in order to assess the impact of antipsychotic treatment on patients' quality of life. In particular, we aimed to identify any differences in the improvement in quality of life according to the (a) type of formulation of antipsychotic drugs (i.e., oral vs. depot vs. long-acting injectable); (b) type of the drug (first vs. second vs. third generation); and (c) patients' clinical characteristics. One hundred and eleven papers were included in the review. The main findings were as follows: (1) quality of life is usually considered a secondary outcome in trials on the efficacy and effectiveness of drugs; (2) second-generation antipsychotics have a more positive effect on quality of life; and (3) long-acting injectable antipsychotics are associated with a more stable improvement in quality of life and with a good safety and tolerability profile. Our systematic review confirms that quality of life represents a central element for selecting the appropriate treatment for people with schizophrenia. In particular, the availability of new treatments with a better tolerability profile, a proven effectiveness on patients' cognitive and social functioning, and with a more stable blood concentration might represent the appropriate strategy for improving the quality of life of people with schizophrenia.

Cost-utility analysis of using paliperidone palmitate in schizophrenia in China

Objective: Long-acting injections (LAIs) of paliperidone palmitate have been shown to improve medication adherence and relieve psychotic symptoms. However, the specific cost-utility analysis of these LAIs in schizophrenia in China remains unclear. Methods: A multi-state Markov model was constructed to simulate the economic outcomes of patients with schizophrenia in China who received paliperidone palmitate 1-month formulation (PP1M), paliperidone palmitate 3-month formulation (PP3M), and paliperidone extended-release (ER). A cost-utility analysis was conducted, mostly derived from published literature and clinical databases. All costs and utilities were discounted at a rate of 5% per annum. The primary outcome measure was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). A series of sensitivity analyses were also applied. Results: After 20 years, compared to ER, using PP1M resulted in an increased discounted cost from $36,252.59 to $43,207.28. This increased cost was associated with a gain in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) from 8.60 to 9.45. As a result, the ICER for PP1M was estimated to be $8,247.46/QALY, which was lower than the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $12,756.55/QALY. When using PP3M instead of ER, the incremental cost was $768.81 and the incremental utility was 0.88 QALYs, projecting an ICER of $873.13/QALY, which was also lower than the WTP threshold of $12,756.55/QALY. The univariate sensitivity analysis showed that the costs of PP1M, PP3M, and ER had the greatest impact on ICERs. The probability sensitivity analysis (PSA) revealed that when the WTP thresholds were $12,756.55/QALY, the probability of PP1M and PP3M being cost-effective was 59.2% and 66.0%, respectively. Conclusion: From the Chinese healthcare system perspective, PP3M and PP1M are both more cost-effective compared to ER, and PP3M has notable cost-utility advantages over PP1M.

Long-acting antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia: opportunities and challenges

INTRODUCTION

Maintenance antipsychotic treatment improves multiple outcomes in people with schizophrenia. These benefits are challenged by medication nonadherence, which is a common occurrence. Long-acting injectable antipsychotic (LAI) formulations were developed to reduce nonadherence and thereby improve outcomes. This narrative review is based on a PubMed search (January 2000 - August 2022) for studies on LAI antipsychotics.

AREAS COVERED

Opportunities and challenges associated with LAIs are reviewed. Advantages, compared to oral antipsychotics (OAs), include improved adherence, reduced relapse and hospitalization risk, delayed and lower relapse risk after stopping treatment, and the ability to differentiate true treatment resistance from 'pseudo'-resistance. Additionally, LAIs are associated with lower all-cause mortality than OAs. LAIs are under-used in many services, partly reflecting negative attitudes, misconceptions, and lack of knowledge among clinicians, patients, and carers. Practical barriers to LAI use include acquisition costs and inadequate service structures to administer/monitor LAI treatment.

EXPERT OPINION

The education and engagement of clinicians, patients and caregivers can assist more informed decision-making regarding LAIs. Future research regarding LAIs should encompass multiple complementary designs, focus on functionality and recovery outcomes, and include groups at high risk of relapse, including those with comorbid substance use disorders and early in the course of schizophrenia.

Attitude and influencing factors of patients with schizophrenia toward long-acting injections: A community-based cross-sectional investigation in China

Background

Low prescription rates of antipsychotic long-acting injections (LAIs) may be a major challenge in the prevention and treatment of schizophrenia. However, there are few studies on the usage and attitude toward LAIs among community-based patients with schizophrenia.

Methods

A large community-based cross-sectional investigation was conducted among 6,336 patients with schizophrenia from Shanghai, China from March 1 to June 30, 2021. The structured Attitude and Status toward Treatment of Community Patients with Schizophrenia Questionnaire (AST-CSQ) was used to investigate the attitude and influencing factors of community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia toward LAIs.

Results

Among the 6,336 participants, the average age was 49.28 ± 11.23. The rate of agreement to LAI antipsychotics among participants was 3.16% (n = 200). The family financial resources, care ability, and disease course of the LAIs group were less than those of the non-LAIs group. However, the LAIs group had higher immediate family guardianship, social activity, previous hospitalization, number of hospitalization, outpatient adherence, previous antipsychotic use, antipsychotic adherence, and attitude toward oral antipsychotics than the non-LAIs group, with significant differences between the two groups (p < 0.05). Furthermore, age (β = -0.036, OR 0.964, 95% CI 0.947-0.982), marital status (β = 0.237, OR 1.267, 95% CI 1.002-1.602), care ability (β = 0.709, OR 2.032, 95% CI 1.437-2.875), outpatient adherence (β = -0.674, OR 0.510, 95% CI 0.358-0.725), antipsychotic adherence (β = 0.920, OR 2.509, 95% CI 1.092-5.764), and attitude toward oral antipsychotics (β = -1.357, OR 0.258, 95% CI 0.103-0.646) were significant predictors of attitude toward LAI antipsychotics (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia in China had a low willingness to use LAIs. Patients of a younger age, more hospitalizations, and a shorter course of disease were prone to be more willing to accept LAIs. The patients' age, marital status, care ability, outpatient adherence, antipsychotic adherence, and attitude toward oral antipsychotics were important predictor of patients' attitudes toward LAIs. Under the global deinstitutionalized management model of mental disorders, these results highlight an urgent problems for public mental health service providers and policy-makers and provide more solutions for them.

Attitudes and Willingness to Accept Long-Acting Injections for Patients With Schizophrenia in Beijing: A Cross-Sectional Investigation Based on Samples From the Communities

Background: Schizophrenia has brought a serious disease burden to China. Under the background that community rehabilitation has become the mainstream treatment model, the long-acting injection (LAI) can better prevent recurrence. Some districts in Beijing have also issued policies. This article aims to find out patient's current attitudes toward LAI and provide policy suggestions.

Methods: Some patients with schizophrenia in the communities are selected, while the survey format is face-to-face conversation. The content of the self-made questionnaire includes patients' willingness and reasons for accepting LAI treatment. Descriptive statistics, t-test and F-test are used to process the data from questionnaire surveys.

Results: About 10% of respondents have had experience using LAI and the current utilization rate is 2.4%. Respondents' willingness to accept LAI is generally low (only 18.1% are willing). The main reason for willingness is no need to take medication every day, while the main reasons for unwillingness are high cost, fear of injection and lack of understanding.

Conclusion: Beijing community patients are not very optimistic about LAI's cognition and willingness. Medication habits play an important role in their medication selection decisions. Intervention such as educate clinicians and patients about LAI and provide free injections to patients can be imposed. The promotion of LAI still has a long way to go.

Treatment strategies in management of schizophrenia patients with persistent symptoms in daily practice: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVES

One-third of the patients with schizophrenia show treatment resistance and literature on the effectiveness of interventions in patients with persistent symptoms is conflicting. This study aimed to assess clinical preferences of clinicians in those showing treatment resistance to antipsychotics and to determine correlates of interventions.

METHODS

Treatment strategies applied in the patients with schizophrenia in daily practice were inquired retrospectively. Those showing poor response to at least two antipsychotics and were administered a clinical intervention in a University Hospital between January and September 2018 were included. Clinical correlates of distinct interventions were evaluated.

RESULTS

The most common intervention (47%) was transition to a long-acting injectable antipsychotic (LAIA) and the second most common (22%) was addition of a second/third oral drug to on-going oral therapy. Switching to clozapine was more effective on positive symptoms comparing with the other interventions (p < 0.01). LAIA therapy showed a superiority over oral antipsychotic interventions at improving positive symptoms, except clozapine (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

LAIA administration and oral antipsychotic augmentation were the most common interventions in the patients with persistent symptoms. Clozapine was related to better clinical improvement in the present study and it might be administered as a second-line treatment in schizophrenia.Key pointsEffectiveness of the treatment strategies in schizophrenia patients with persistent symptoms is not satisfactory to meet expectations of the clinicians yet. Clozapine still seems to be the best option to provide a favourable improvement in TRS.LAIA and oral AP combination are used frequently in schizophrenia for persistent psychotic symptoms and targets of the combination therapies in daily practice needs to be clarified.The most common intervention was transition to a LAIA (47%) in the study and none of the patients administered LAIA had used a long-acting AP before the intervention. High rate of treatment nonadherence in schizophrenia is an important reason for common LAIA preference in the patients with persistent symptoms.Growing evidence indicates that clozapine can be used as a second-line treatment in schizophrenia, and thus, there is an urgent need to increase clozapine use in the patients with persistent symptoms in clinical practice.

Predictors of long-acting injectable antipsychotic treatment discontinuation in outpatients with schizophrenia: relevance of the Drug Attitude Inventory-10

Given the importance of patients' subjective experience and attitudes in the management of severe mental illness, the present study evaluated their potential role as predictors of future continuation of long-acting injectable antipsychotic maintenance treatment (LAI-AMT) in clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia switching from an oral therapy. Retrospective data from 59 subjects receiving LAI-AMT for at least 6 months were collected. Patients who continued LAI treatment (n = 32) were compared to those who discontinued it (n = 27), assessing baseline socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, psychopathological features (Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale, Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale) and patient-reported experience of treatment through Drug Attitude Inventory 10-item (DAI-10) and Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptics short form. Binary logistic and Cox regression analyses explored the predictive role of the mentioned variables on treatment discontinuation. The Kaplan-Meier estimator compared dropout from LAI treatment in subsamples with different characteristics. Unemployment and lower baseline DAI-10 scores predicted LAI-AMT discontinuation. No major differences were detected in other socio-demographic, clinical or psychometric indexes. When switching from oral to LAI-AMT, the preliminary assessment of attitude towards drug might be clinically relevant, allowing the identification of patients at risk for treatment discontinuation.

Controversies Surrounding the Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotic Medications for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that requires continuous and effective long-term management to reduce symptoms, improve quality of life, and prevent relapse. Oral antipsychotic medications have proven efficacy for many patients taking these medications; however, a considerable number of patients continue to experience ongoing symptoms and relapse, often due to lack of adherence. The advent of long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations of antipsychotic medications provided an opportunity to improve treatment adherence and overall patient outcomes. Despite data to support LAI efficacy, safety, and improved adherence over oral formulations, there are several misconceptions about and barriers to LAI implementation within a standard of care for patients with schizophrenia. Areas of resistance around LAIs include (1) doubts regarding their benefits outside of improved adherence, (2) questions regarding their prescribing to a broader population of patients with schizophrenia, (3) when to initiate LAIs, (4) concerns regarding the safety of LAIs in comparison with oral medication, and (5) the most effective ways to educate healthcare providers, patients, and caretakers to enable appropriate LAI consideration and acceptance. Here, we discuss these key controversies associated with LAIs and provide supportive evidence to facilitate LAI use in a manner that is constructive to the clinician-patient relationship and successful treatment.

Budget impact analysis of long acting injection for schizophrenia in Japan

Aims: To estimate the budgetary impact of providing additional reimbursement for long acting injections for schizophrenia patients in psychiatric hospital settings in Japan to improve patient outcomes in schizophrenia.Methods: Budget impact analysis of change in reimbursement policy using a prevalence-based model over a five-year time horizon. The results are reported as net change in expenditure and consequent cost/savings in Japanese yen at the time of analysis.Results: The budget impact analysis shows that an increase in reimbursement for LAIs could lead to cumulative savings of an estimated 36.6 billion JPY over five years. These savings result from a decrease in hospitalization costs and an increased usage of LAI (assumed to be 10%). Based on the sensitivity analysis, the saving estimates are most sensitive to change in market share of generic and branded oral antipsychotics.Limitations: Historical data were used to estimate the future costs of drug and hospitalization; however, it is not the best predictor of future, hence a source of potential bias. A good level of treatment adherence with oral antipsychotics was assumed, which is generally not the case; therefore, we might have overestimated the effectiveness of oral atypical antipsychotics. Additionally, the drug cost due to reimbursement might have also been overestimated because in clinical setting, the increase of LAI use may not have reached 10% of the market share. Lastly, patients' behavior was derived from models, which may have loosely approximated the reality.Conclusions: An additional reimbursement for the use of LAI in schizophrenia patients is likely to be cost neutral/cost saving and should be considered as a policy option to improve patient outcomes and budget sustainability.

Treatment Persistence Between Long-Acting Injectable Versus Orally Administered Aripiprazole Among Patients with Schizophrenia in a Real-World Clinical Setting in Japan

INTRODUCTION

Persistence with antipsychotic treatment is critical in managing patients with schizophrenia. To evaluate whether aripiprazole long-acting injection (aripiprazole once-monthly, AOM) can contribute to longer treatment persistence compared with daily orally administered aripiprazole (OA) in real-world clinical settings in Japan, treatment persistence in patients with schizophrenia was compared between patients treated with AOM and those with OA, using a claims database compiled by JMDC Inc., Tokyo, Japan.

METHODS

Data of patients with schizophrenia who newly initiated AOM or OA treatment between May 2015 and November 2017 were analyzed. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for treatment discontinuation of AOM vs. OA treatment, adjusted for age, sex, chlorpromazine-equivalent dose of antipsychotics, and the number of psychiatric hospitalizations.

RESULTS

The analysis included 198 patients in the AOM group and 1240 patients in the OA group (mean age 38.4 ± 11.9 years and 39.3 ± 12.4 years, respectively). The AOM group was significantly less likely to discontinue treatment than the OA group (adjusted HR 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43-0.68). When using the tolerable patients extracted from the OA group (i.e., patients with at least two OA prescriptions; n = 983) vs. the whole AOM group, AOM users were again significantly less likely to discontinue treatment (adjusted HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.53-0.86).

CONCLUSION

AOM was associated with longer treatment persistence than OA in the antipsychotic treatment of patients with schizophrenia in real-world clinical settings in Japan, suggesting that the use of AOM may contribute to longer antipsychotic treatment.

Perceptions of Psychiatrists Toward the Use of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics: An Online Survey Study From India

PURPOSE/BACKGROUND

Despite proven benefits of long-acting injectables (LAIs), these are frequently underused by the psychiatrists. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the perceptions of psychiatrists toward the use of LAI antipsychotics in their routine clinical practice.

METHODS/PROCEDURE

An online e-mail survey was conducted by using Survey Monkey platform.

RESULTS

A total of 622 psychiatrists with a mean age of 41 years who were in psychiatric practice for approximately 14 years participated in the survey. Participants reported using LAI, mainly for patients with schizophrenia, with LAI prescribed to approximately one-tenth (9.30%) of their patients in acute phase of illness and in one-fifth (18.42%) of patients in stabilization/stable phase. Fluphenazine decanoate (32.7%) was the most commonly used LAI followed by flupenthixol decanoate (19.5%), haloperidol decanoate (17.8%), and olanzapine pamoate (11.1%). The most common reasons for starting LAI were history of medication (100%) and treatment (80.5%) nonadherence, followed by having frequent relapses/exacerbations of symptoms (54.8%). Overall, more than half of the participants felt the level of acceptance of LAI among patients offered to be quite reasonable (54.3%), and mostly, LAIs were used as combination therapy with oral antipsychotics (73.6%). Despite all these, approximately three-fifths (59%) of the participants reported that they underuse LAI to a certain extent, with most common reasons that deter them from using LAI being the cost (55.45%), lack of interest of patients in receiving LAI (42.9%), lack of regular availability (41.3%), and patients being scared of receiving injectables (41.2%).

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS

The LAI antipsychotics despite having several benefits are still underused by a substantial proportion of practicing psychiatrists.

Acceptance of the Deltoid Muscle Injection of Aripiprazole Long-acting Injectable in the Patients with Schizophrenia

Objective

To improve poor medication adherence in schizophrenic patients, long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are used. However, it has not yet become common in Japan. Recently, aripiprazole LAI was approved for alternative injection into the deltoid muscle in addition to the gluteal muscle. The acceptance for the proposal to switch from gluteal to deltoid injections of aripiprazole LAI was investigated.

Methods

The subjects were 32 outpatients with schizophrenia who had continuously received aripiprazole LAI administration into the gluteal muscle for ≥ 6 months. In the patients who had continued deltoid injection for 3 months after switching, the changes in the pain and shame in comparison with gluteal injections were evaluated.

Results

Switching to the deltoid injection was chosen by 17 out of 32 patients. Three months later, 9 patients were still receiving deltoid injections with highly rated satisfaction. The main reasons for switching to deltoid injections included the pain and shame associated with gluteal injections. The main reason for returning to the gluteal injection was the pain experienced from the injection in the deltoid.

Conclusion

The option to select the injected area was based on the amount of pain in the deltoid and gluteal sites, leading to the widespread use of aripiprazole LAI.

Attitude and perceptions of patients towards long acting depot injections (LAIs)

BACKGROUND

Despite the well-established efficacy of the long acting depot injectable (LAIs) antipsychotics, these are significantly underused and underutilized by the mental health professionals, with a belief that patients will not accept the same.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

To explore the acceptability and perception of patients towards various psychiatric treatments, with specific focus on LAIs. Additionally the study aimed to compare the acceptability of various types of treatments including LAIs between patients with severe mental disorders (Psychotic disorders and Bipolar disorder) and those with Common mental disorders (Anxiety, neurotic and depressive disorders).

METHODOLOGY

A self-designed semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the preferred treatment options of all the new patients attending the psychiatry outpatient clinic of a tertiary care hospital. Depending on the response, they were further probed for the reasons for accepting or rejecting the LAIs.

RESULTS

2659 patients were interviewed who were divided into two groups (Group I - 321 subjects with psychotic disorders and 120 subjects with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) and Group II - 2218 subjects with neurotic, stress-related and unipolar depressive disorders). More than three-fourth (78.8%) of the participants in the whole study sample opted for tablets only as their first preferred choice and injectables were opted by about 5% of the participants only, with no significant difference between the 2 groups. After being explained about LAIs, one fourth of the participants (24.9%) reported that they may consider LAIs, without any significant difference between the 2 groups. Among those who refused to take LAIs even after explanation, the commonly reported reasons were difficulty in visiting hospital frequently for the injectables (41.69%), injectables being painful (19.41%), fear of injections (13.96%), no need to take LAIs (12.45%) and preference to take some other types of medicines (8.52%).

CONCLUSIONS

Considering the fact that LAIs are highly underused in patients with severe mental disorders and there is lack of awareness about LAIs among patients with severe mental disorders, the present study findings suggest that there is reasonable level of acceptance of LAIs among patients with severe mental disorders when explained about the same.