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Because antipsychotic medications may have long-term adverse effects, some authorities recommend considering tapering and discontinuing these medications in patients with schizophrenia if no relapse has occurred after 5 years of treatment. Although studies have consistently demonstrated high rates of clinical deterioration with medication withdrawal after 1 to 2 years of clinical stability, effects of medication withdrawal during the following 3 years have not been examined. The current investigators used Finnish national registries to identify patients first hospitalized for schizophrenia in 1996–2014 who had not used antipsychotics in the previous year. Starting 30 days postdischarge, patients were divided into 4217 “users” who initiated …