Antipsychotic Blood Levels: Why and How – Interview

<jats:p>After completing this activity, participants should be able to: Apply correct therapeutic drug monitoring sampling principles—including 12-hour post-dose timing, steady-state requirements, and repeat testing—to obtain interpretable antipsychotic plasma levels. Assess subtherapeutic or undetectable levels to distinguish non-adherence and pseudo-resistance from true treatment resistance, and integrate this finding into decisions about clozapine and long-acting injectable therapy. Explain drug-specific TDM considerations across antipsychotics—including the clozapine algorithm and smoking effects, active-moiety measurement for risperidone and aripiprazole, the haloperidol therapeutic threshold, and monitoring in pregnancy.</jats:p>