Disclaimer
This pocket guide attempts to define principles of practice that should produce high-quality
patient care. It is applicable to specialists, primary care, and providers at all levels. This pocket
guide should not be considered exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed at
obtaining the same results. The ultimate judgment concerning the propriety of any course of
conduct must be made by the clinician after consideration of each individual patient situation.
Neither IGC, the medical association, nor the authors endorse any product or service associated
with the distributor of this clinical reference tool.
The most common U.S. trade names are included for reference only. At the time of publication,
some of these products may be manufactured only as generic products. Other medications or
other formulations of the listed medications may be available in Canada.
Abbreviations
AIMS, Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale; ANC, absolute neutrophil count; AUC,
area under the curve; BMI, body mass index; CBC, complete blood count; CBTp,
cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis; C
max
, maximum plasma concentration; CrCl,
creatinine clearance; CT, computed tomography; CYP, cytochrome P450; DISCUS,
Dyskinesia Identification System-Condensed User Scale; EEG, electroencephalogram;
HCl, hydrochloride; HTBZ, dihydrotetrabenazine; IM, intramuscular; IV, intravenous; LAI,
long-acting injectable; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate;
QTc, corrected QT interval; REMS, risk evaluation and mitigation strategy; TSH, thyroid
stimulating hormone; VMAT2, vesicular monoamine transporter 2
Source
American Psychiatric Association: Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With
Schizophrenia, 3rd Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2021
106 Commerce Street, Suite 105
Lake Mary, FL 32746
TEL: 407.878.7606 • FAX: 407.878.7611
Order additional copies at GuidelineCentral.com
Copyright © American Psychiatric Association.
All rights reserved.
APASCH09203a
Grading Recommendations
Grade Description
1 Recommendation: indicates confidence that the benefits of the
intervention clearly outweigh harms.
2 Suggestion: indicates greater uncertainty: although the benefits of the
statement are still viewed as outweighing the harms, balance of benefits
and harms is more difficult to judge, or the benefits or the harms may
be less clear. With a suggestion, patient values and preferences may
be more variable, and this can influence the clinical decision that is
ultimately made.
Grade Strength of Evidence
A High: high confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect. Further
research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect.
B Moderate: moderate confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect.
Further research may change our confidence in the estimate of effect
and may change the estimate.
C Low: low confidence that the evidence reflects the true effect. Further
research is likely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect and is
likely to change the estimate.