Data from: Factors associated with first- versus second-generation long-acting antipsychotics prescribed under ordinary clinical practice in Italy

Background. For many years, long-acting intramuscular (LAI) antipsychotics
have been prescribed predominantly to chronic and severe patients, as a
last resort when other treatments failed. Recently, a broader and earlier
use of LAIs, particularly second-generation LAIs, has been emphasized. To
date, few studies attempted to frame how this change in prescribing took
place in real-world practice. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the
clinical features of patients prescribed with LAIs, and to explore
possible prescribing differences between first- and second-generations
LAIs under ordinary clinical practice in Italy. Methods. The STAR Network
"Depot" Study is an observational, longitudinal, multicenter
study involving 35 centers in Italy. In the cross-sectional phase,
patients prescribed with LAIs were consecutively recruited and assessed
over a period of 12 months. Descriptive statistics and multivariable
logistic regression analyses were employed. Results. Of the 451 recruited
patients, 61% were males. The level of social and working functioning was
heterogeneous, as was the severity of disease. Seventy-two per cent of the
patients had a diagnosis of the schizophrenia spectrum. Seventy per cent
was prescribed with second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) LAIs (mostly
paliperidone, aripiprazole and risperidone). Compared to first-generation
antipsychotic (FGA) LAIs, patients prescribed with SGA LAIs were more
often younger; employed; with a diagnosis of the schizophrenia spectrum or
bipolar disorder; with higher levels of affective symptoms; with fewer LAI
prescriptions in the past. Discussion. LAIs' prescribing practices
appear to be more flexible as compared to the past, although this change
is mostly restricted to SGA LAIs.