People with schizophrenia have the best medication adherence with clozapine or second-generation long-acting injectable antipsychotics yet only a quarter of eligible patients are on them, PBS data show.

The study shows persistence with therapy varies widely and suggests earlier initiation of these agents may improve patient prognosis, the authors say.

The researchers, led by consultant psychiatrist Associate Professor Mark Taylor, from the University of Queensland, analysed a representative 10% random sample of PBS data, finding nearly 27,000 adults with schizophrenia who had been prescribed at least one antipsychotic for at least three months.

They measured the persistence of patients (mean age 46, 53% male) on the drugs: the time from first to last script.