Use of Antipsychotics: A Study from the French National Insurance Healthcare System Database

A marked increase in antipsychotic prescriptions has been observed in most countries since the introduction of second-generation antipsychotics. Misuse could partly explain this rise. We described the use of antipsychotic medication in France. This retrospective analysis was conducted on the sample “Echantillon généraliste de beneficiaries” from the French National Insurance Healthcare System. All reimbursements for antipsychotic medications in 2010 were identified. Antipsychotics use was described in terms of patient’s profiles and condition of use. In 2010, we identified 11,729 single patients with at least one reimbursement for antipsychotic medication (2.23% of French health insurance beneficiaries). The mean age in the population was 54 (sd 20) years. Forty-one percent had declared psychiatric disorder and 15% had a psychiatric follow-up for unknown diseases. Schizophrenia, others psychosis and personality disorders were the three main diagnoses of psychiatric disease. Patients without declared psychiatric disorders and without psychiatric follow-up accounted for 23% (aged between 15 and 65) and 20% (aged 65 years and over) of the population using antipsychotics. Forty-five percent of patients aged between 15 and 65 had more than 3 months of treatment refunded. Patients aged 65 years and over were 69% without dementia and 47% had more than three months of treatment of antipsychotics refunded during the year. These results suggested that antipsychotic treatments were used in France at long term in particular for patients without declared psychiatric disorder or psychiatric follow-up.