Pa tte rn s a n d Clin ica l Co rre late s o f A n tip sych o tic
M e d ica tio n Tre atm e n t in V isits fo r A n xie ty D iso rd e rs
During the study period, 16.7% (N=596) of visits to officebased
psychiatrists for anxiety disorders included an antipsychotic
medication prescription. In adjusted analyses,
visits in which antipsychotic medication was prescribed
were significantly associated with younger patient age, African
American race/ethnicity, public insurance, and comorbidity
(Table 1). Relative to visits in which there was no
diagnosis with an FDA-approved indication, those in which
a codiagnosed FDA indication was present had a significantly
greater likelihood of including a prescription for an
antipsychotic medication. Prescribing of antipsychotics in
visits for anxiety disorders was not associated with antidepressant
or sedative/hypnotic prescription after accounting
for potentially confounding patient characteristics.
Stratifi e d Tim e Tre n d s in A n tip sych o tic M e d ica tio n
Tre a tm e n t
Across the 12-year period, a significant increase occurred
in the percentage of visits for anxiety disorders in
which an antipsychotic medication was prescribed, among
both sexes as well as among several mental disorder diagnosis
groups (Table 2). After controlling for several patient
characteristics, including comorbidity, the largest proportionate
increase in antipsychotic prescriptions was among
new patient visits. Antipsychotic prescribing also substantially
increased among privately insured visits, visits
in which neither antidepressants nor sedative/hypnotics
were prescribed, and visits in which there were no comorbid
nonanxiety diagnoses. Among office visits for anxiety
disorder diagnoses, those for panic disorder as well as the
residual other anxiety disorders group showed the largest