Acute Blood Pressure Changes Associated With Antipsychotic Administration to Psychiatric Inpatients.

Objective: To investigate blood pressure (BP) changes within the first 3 days after initiating antipsychotic medication in psychiatric inpatients.

Methods: Through retrospective chart review using a repeated measures design, vital signs data were collected on 60 adult psychiatric inpatients who were psychiatrically hospitalized May 26, 2011, through September 4, 2012, at 9 time points within 3 days of initiation of 1 of 6 different antipsychotic medications. The random sample included patients with the following DSM-IV-TR diagnoses: schizophrenia (n = 25), schizoaffective disorder (either type; n = 19), and bipolar I disorder (n = 16).