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Antipsychotics may reduce violent crime rate

Through large population-based data in Sweden, researchers found that prescribing antipsychotics to patients with psychiatric disorders reduced the incidence for violent crime.

Researchers utilized population-based registers in Sweden to access the amount of people prescribed mood stabilizers or antipsychotics and identified subsequent criminal convictions, through the national crime register, from 2006 to 2009.

The study defined the primary outcome as conviction for a violent crime, such as homicide, assault, robbery, arson, any sexual offense, illegal threats or intimidation.

Of the 1,944,548 men and 1,858,984 women born in Sweden between 1961 and 1990, researchers identified 40,937 men and 41,710 women who were prescribed any antipsychotic or mood stabilizer between 2006 and 2009, according to the study. During the study period, 2,657 men were convicted of 4,166 violent crimes, and 604 women convicted of 782 violent crimes.

Researchers completed a between-individual analyses, where rates of violent crime during periods on medication compared with periods on medication in a cohort of 82,647 patients who had at least one period on medication during follow-up. The violent crime rate was reduced by an estimated 64% for any antipsychotic or mood stabilizers.

“In addition to the effects of antipsychotics and mood stabilizers on relapse rates, their potential effects on violence and crime should also be taken into account in decisions about management for these groups of patients,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: The researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.