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.