ABSTRACT
Background: The main objective was to investigate the Socio-demographic, clinical, and side effect profile of patients on clozapine from Mental Health Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia. This article reports on an observational study. Clozapine is a second-generation atypical antipsychotic used as the drug of choice for the treatment resistant psychosis. It is supposed to be a baseline study from which we will get and understand rate of clinical, and side effect profile of the clozapine taking patients. Physicians, particularly psychiatrists are not only ignoring but also not aware, alert, so they always need to be watchful to the fatality of the drug, and take appropriate therapeutic measures. The aim was to study the socio-demographic status, clinical profile, comorbidity, side effects and outcome of patients treated with clozapine. Methodology: We reviewed all the indoor psychiatric patients of Mental Health Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia, from the period of one year between January 2021 to January 2022 (N=29). Our study design focused on prospective and observational studies. Descriptive statistical analysis was explored, and presented as frequencies, and percentages. We also determined crude rates for all adverse outcomes of clozapine. Results: We did a nearly mean follow-up of one year. The majority of patients were male (n=26; 89.65%), with a maximum being unmarried (n=16; 55.17%). Most patients belong to nuclear families due to cultural restrictions in this country (n=23; 79.31%). Among the literacy rate illiterate were (n=2; 6.89%, and unemployed (n=23; 79.31%). Among the study populations, the majority of respondents were found to have treatment-resistant schizophrenia (n=18; 62.06%), and around 79.31% of patients took more than two antipsychotics in adequate doses. Among side effect profiles most of the patients suffered hyper-salivation (n=19; 65.51%), sedation (n=12; 41.37%), and rarely suffered from agranulocytosis. Conclusion: Socio-demographic, clinical, and side effect profiles were the significant indicators of clozapine. Clozapine has been used for treatment-resistant psychosis, but due to fatal side effect profile we used it cautiously. In our study, we found that myocarditis, hematemesis, and leukocytosis, and neutropenia are fatal side effects of clozapine. We also found hyponatremia-induced seizure. The prevalence of blood dyscrasias in our study is rarely seen. Hyper-salivation is the most common side effect reported. Majority of the patients in our study were male, and treatment resistant Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis. Myocarditis is life-threatening side effect seen in our study