Anum Baig, MD: The Future of Schizophrenia Treatment

The side effects attached to schizophrenia treatment can often lead to poor adherence and discontinuation of treatment and is 1 of the leading reasons why treatment of the disease is so challenging.

However, a research team is trying to bring awareness to the barrier that prevent better schizophrenia, particularly by increasing prescription rates for clozapine, considered the best option to treat the disease.

In research presented at the 2021 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting,Anum Iqbal Baig, MD, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, identified various barriers that prevent the use of clozapine, including the provider’s lack of knowledge and training, concern about side effects, and frequent monitoring as the greatest barriers to overcome.

In an interview with HCPLive®, Baig explained how devoting educational resources to the value of clozapine could be the biggest initiative that improves schizophrenia care.

Baig also talked about how while side effects could be challenging for patients, education and better communications could be beneficial in letting the patient know better what they can expect.

The research team also plans to study why barriers in treatment exist further in an attempt to close some of these prevalent treatment gaps.