[Should Long-acting Antipsychotic Injection be Considered an Essential Treatment Option for Patients with Schizophrenia?].

Abstract

The objective of this article (and the corresponding symposium) was to assume an "oppo- sition" stance and argue against the presumed usefulness of long-acting injections (LAI) for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Here, LAI demonstrated limited patient applica- bility and were found to be used infrequently in Japan, with insufficient evidence to their effi- cacy suggesting that LAI would be more appropriate playing a supplementary role in the pharmacotherapy guidelines for schizophrenia. Additionally, any potential benefits of LAI have yet to be fully realized in Japan due to the fact that 80% of patients treated with LAI for schizophrenia are also prescribed antipsychotics orally, and a hesitance towards LAI by psy- chiatrists is likely to be reflected in their limited usage nationwide, an attitude which may present an ethical problem in terms of just principles.