Can a ‘Shot’ Help Prevent Youth Re-Incarceration? Case Report on Use of a Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotic in Incarcerated Youth

Incarcerated youth have a higher prevalence of mental disorders as compared to general population with rates of psychotic disorders about ten times more than the general adolescent population (Fazel, Doll et al. 2008). Serious mental illness in this population has been shown to be a strong predictor of rapid reincarceration while treatment adherence appears to be protective against rapid reincarceration (Kasinathan 2015). Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics provide a tool to improve medication compliance by eliminating the need of daily medication administration. The PRIDE study demonstrated that in adult subjects LAI Paliperidone was superior to oral antipsychotics in delaying time to first arrest/incarceration (Alphs, Benson et al. 2015). This case report describes an adolescent with schizophrenia in whom LAI Aripiprazole was superior to oral Aripiprazole in delaying time to re-incarceration.