Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:88-91
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Fluphenazine decanoate: a clinical problem?
LB Inderbitzin, RR Lewine, BA Gloersen, PB Rosen, SC McDonald and BP Vidanagama
Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.
The authors compared the medical records of 20 randomly selected
schizophrenic patients who were receiving fluphenazine decanoate with the
records of 20 other randomly selected schizophrenic patients who were
receiving oral medications only. The fluphenazine decanoate group had a
significantly higher mean chlorpromazine equivalent dose (2010 +/- 836)
than the oral medication group (373 +/- 384). The two groups did not,
however, differ on any of the other variables studied. The findings, in
addition to reports in the literature, suggest that the use of fluphenazine
decanoate may come at the inadvertent cost of a significantly higher dose
of antipsychotic medications in a subgroup of patients.
