Ethnic factors antipsychotics

Buckalew LW, Coffield K Drug expectations associated with perceptual characteristics ethnic factors. Percept Mot Skills 55 915-918,1982 Budd RJ, Hughes IC, Smith JA Health beliefs and compliance with antipsychotic medication. Br J Clin Psychol 35(3) 393-397,1996 Carbajal D, Casaco A, Arruzazabala L Pharmacological screening of plant decoctions commonly used in Cuban folk medicine. J Ethno-pharmacol 33 21-24,1991... 

It is widely held that differences exist in the usage and dosage of antipsychotics among ethnic minority groups. A number of factors are felt to account for these differences and include sociocultural variables (racial bias, cultural divide between patient and physician, language), as well as biological variables (pharmacogenetic, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic). 

There is large variability between individuals in their response to and tolerability of antipsychotic treatment. Some patients enter complete remission following treatment with a particular antipsychotic, while others treated with the same antipsychotic show no response or experience common adverse effects such as tardive dyskinesia or weight gain. While environmental factors such as lifestyle habits (smoking, diet), demographics (sex, ethnicity), and health status (concurrent medications, illness onset and duration, medical comorbidities) contribute to the variability in both response and tolerability of antipsychotic treatment, there is also a clear genetic contribution to this variability [3-7]. 

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