Atypical Antipsychotics Beneficial In Few Off-Label Conditions

Benefits and adverse effects vary among atypical antipsychotics used for off-label conditions, with no evidence supporting their use for several conditions—eating disorders, substance abuse, and insominia—for which they are sometimes used. That was the finding from a meta-analysis of effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics used for off-label conditions published September 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Small but statistically significant effects were found for aripiprazole, olanzapine, and risperidone in treatment of dementia in the elderly. Quetiapine was found effective for generalized anxiety disorder, and risperidone for obsessive-compulsive disorder, but all the antipsychotics had side effects of varying severity in all disorders for which they were prescribed.

For more information about the risks and benefits of atypical antipsychotics see Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/11/2.2.full, http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/44/5/1.1.full, and http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/43/13/12.full.

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