Determination of combination therapy prescribing patterns for the treatment of acute agitation in psychiatric patients: A regression model of patient diagnoses and demographics

INTRODUCTION: Guidelines for the treatment of acute agitation typically recommend monotherapy with an antipsychotic or a benzodiazepine, but combination therapy is frequently used in practice. We created a regression model to identify which factors lead to the prescribing of combination therapy for acute agitation on a psychiatry unit. METHODS: We collected retrospective data from hospitalized patients in the psychiatry unit. An a priori alpha of 0.05 was used for binary logistic regression models to determine if and how the number of prescribed medications for acute agitation was influenced by: age, sex, race, cardiovascular comorbidities, and psychiatric diagnoses. RESULTS: We identified 1998 encounters from 1200 patients. Patients are significantly more likely to be prescribed combination therapy if they are young, male, and of non-white race or have a diagnosis of central nervous system stimulant use, hallucinogen use, depression, bipolar, cluster B personality, or psychosis. Patients are significantly more likely to be prescribed monotherapy if they have cardiovascular comorbidity or have neurocognitive disorder. DISCUSSION: Several demographic or diagnostic factors predict combination therapy prescribing. Acute agitation guidelines should be reviewed to include more clear instructions on combination therapy use.