How can we characterize the epidemiology and health care resource utilization of Americans with schizophrenia? This question is addressed in a new paper in JMCP by Parks et al. (2026) aimed to respond among patients enrolled in Medicaid. The authors use transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS) analytical files from 2016 to 2022 and find that:
The mean age was 41.9 years, with the largest proportion being male (56.4%) and non-Hispanic white (41.8%). Medication adherence was low, with less than 30% of patients with any antipsychotic prescription having a PDC greater than or equal to 80%. During the 12-month follow-up period, 44.9% of patients were admitted at least 1 time, and 54.6% of those hospitalized had at least 1 mental health-related admission. During the same 12-month period, 68.8% of patients had at least 1 mental health outpatient care, with an average of 30.6 visits among those with any mental health outpatient care.
Among those taking antipsychotics, less than 3 in 10 (29.3%) were considered adherent to their medication, based on the proportion of days covered. You can find more interesting statistics in the article here.
