Gender differences in response to antipsychotic treatment in outpatients with schizophrenia

The aim of this study is to evaluate gender differences in schizophrenia in response to typical and atypical antipsychotics. The SOHO (Schizophrenia Outpatient Health Outcomes) study is a 3-year, prospective, observational study of health outcomes associated with antipsychotic treatment in 10 European countries that included over 10,000 outpatients initiating or changing their antipsychotic medication. The analyzed sample included 4529 men (56.68%) and 3461 women (43.32%). Findings showed that gender was a significant predictor for response based on the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale and for improvement in quality of life measured with the EuroQol-5D (EQ-VAS) scale, with women having a better response. The highest gender differences were found in typical antipsychotics and clozapine. Olanzapine only showed differences in quality of life, and no differences were found for risperidone. In conclusion, in this group of outpatients with schizophrenia, gender is a predictor of clinical response to antipsychotic treatment, but its influence is not the same for all antipsychotics. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.