Healthy Skepticism Library item: 6372

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Publication type: Journal Article

Helbling J, Ajdacic-gross V, Lauber C, Weyermann R, Burns T, Rossler W.
Attitudes to antipsychotic drugs and their side effects: a comparison between general practitioners and the general population.
BMC Psychiatry 2006 Oct 18; 6:(1):42

Abstract:

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Attitudes towards antipsychotic medication play an
important part in the treatment for schizophrenia and related disorders. We
aimed measuring general practitioners’ attitudes to antipsychotic drugs and
their adverse side effects and comparing these with the attitudes of the
general population. METHODS: Analysis and comparison of two representative
samples, one comprising 100 General Practitioners (GPs), the other 791
individuals randomly selected from the general population. The setting was
the German speaking cantons of Switzerland. RESULTS: General practitioners
have significantly more positive attitudes towards anti-psychotic drugs than
the general public. They reject widespread prejudices about the use of
anti-psychotic medication significantly more than the general population. In
particular the risk of dependency was assessed as ‘low’ by GPs (80%), in
contrast to only 18% of the general population sample. In no instance did a
majority of the GPs advise not tolerating any of the 10 possible adverse
effects presented in this study. This is in marked contrast to the general
population sample, where a majority recommended discontinuation for movement
disorder (63%), strong tremor (59%), risk of dependency (55%) and feelings
of unrest (54%). CONCLUSIONS: As well as effective management of
side-effects being a vital aspect of patient and carer education,
prescribing doctors need to be aware that their mentally ill patients are
likely to be confronted with extremely negative public attitudes towards
antipsychotic medication and with strong pressures to stop taking their
medication in the event of side-effects.