Ethnic differences in use of antipsychotic medication among Texas medicaid clients with XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1032 @entity914 @entity161 @entity1767 @entity1037
BACKGROUND: Culture and ethnicity have been suggested to influence the presentation of @entity1 with @entity161 . These factors are thought to affect the diagnoses, courses of treatment, and medical utilization patterns of @entity1 with @entity161 . Specifically, the differences between whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans are of particular importance, as these groups comprise the majority of the population in the United States today. The traditional course of treatment for many @entity1 with @entity161 is the drug @entity1767 . However, research has shown that some ethnic groups (African Americans and Mexican Americans) may respond better to atypical drugs, such as @entity1037 , but may be less likely to receive these drugs. A better response to the course of treatment results in improved medical utilization patterns. The purpose of this study was to examine if ethnicity helped predict whether Texas Medicaid @entity1 were prescribed @entity1767 versus @entity1037 when other factors were controlled for. METHOD: The study population consisted of 726 @entity1 whose index drug was @entity1767 and 1875 @entity1 whose index drug was @entity1037 . @entity1 had an ICD-9-CM diagnosis of @entity161 or @entity914 . Texas medical and prescription claims data were used in a logistic regression analysis to determine significant predictors of the type of antipsychotic ( @entity1767 vs. @entity1037 ) @entity1 were prescribed. Variables included in the analysis were ethnicity, gender, age, region, other @entity1032 , and previous utilization of medications and resources. Data were collected from Jan. 1, 1996, to Aug. 31, 1998. RESULTS: The results show that when other demographic and utilization factors were controlled for, African Americans were less likely than whites to receive @entity1037 rather than @entity1767 . CONCLUSION: Ethnicity is a significant predictor of the type of antipsychotic that is prescribed.
