ORCID

Abstract

Background: The stopping overmedication of people with a learning disability, autism, or both (STOMP) programme was launched in 2016 in response to concerns about the over-prescribing of medication in people with intellectual disability. The programmes focus has been on the withdrawal of antipsychotic treatment for the individual person than the service or dosage optimisation. It could be that cumulative service level antipsychotic treatment converted and presented as chlorpromazine units could allow for comparison of services on how antipsychotic treatment is being utilised and allow for comparing of practices between services in different regions. The aim of this feasibility study is to explore if cumulative service scores of antipsychotic treatment burden could define prescribing patterns across different specialist intellectual disability services in England and Wales, focused on those on ≥2 antipsychotic treatments. There is no evidence to use ≥2 antipsychotic treatments for any individual.Methods: The study is a feasibility cross-sectional study investigating service antipsychotic treatment cumulative burden at seven annual time points, 2017–2023. De-identified data for adult patients with intellectual disability under the care of specialist intellectual disability services in receipt of ≥2 oral and/or long-acting IM (intramuscular) injectable (depot) antipsychotic treatments are included. Demographic and clinical data will be collated, in addition to information on the prescribed antipsychotic treatments. The data will be evaluated for data completeness and will be inputted into the Statistical Process Control tool. Outcomes will be measured using a combination of methods including descriptive analysis (including mean, standard deviation and percentage values), and a mixed effects regression model, to determine changes in chlorpromazine equivalent dose values over time.Results: Seven England and Wales National Health Service intellectual disability services are recruiting up to 490 people. There were recognised challenges in identifying the relevant eligible cohort across services and administering a common set of outcome measures.Discussion: This study is intended to inform decisions to design a wider registry that would involve antipsychotic treatment prescribing data for patients across multiple sites nationwide. Developing a de-identified database using routinely collected data, without the requirement for informed consent, comes with unique benefits and challenges.Registry reference: NCT06238089 (www.clinicaltrials.gov).

Publication Date

2025-05-09

Publication Title

Frontiers in Health Services

Volume

5

Acceptance Date

2025-04-23

Deposit Date

2025-05-09

Funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund (reference TRUST/VC/AC/SG6328-9580). RS has received institutional and research support from LivaNova, UCB, Eisai, Veriton Pharma, Neuraxpharm, Bial, Angelini, UnEEG and Jazz/GW Pharma outside the submitted work. He holds grants from Innovate, NIHR AI, SBRI and other funding bodies all outside this work. SJT is an Executive Committee member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Faculty of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability and Neurodevelopmental Special Interest Group, has received funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Jazz Pharma for work related to people with intellectual disability but outside of the submitted work, is an editorial board member for Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, and is an editor of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability Across Cultures (Oxford University Press). We are grateful for the support from the research Sponsor for this study, University of Plymouth

Keywords

antipsychotic, intellectual disability, learning disability, overprescribing, psychotropic

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