Journal
MENTAL ILLNESS
Volume 4, Issue 1, Pages 1-4Publisher
PAGEPRESS PUBL
DOI: 10.4081/mi.2012.e1
Keywords
antipsychotics; clozapine; clozapine resistant schizophrenia; polypharmacy; randomized; controlled trial
Categories
Funding
- Annual EVO Financing (special government subsidies from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Finland)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
There is a considerable disparity between clinical practice and recommendations based on meta-analyses of antipsychotic polypharmacy in clozapine resistant schizophrenia. For this reason, we investigated the clinical response to reducing the use olanzapine that had been previously added on clozapine treatment among seriously ill hospitalized patients. In a randomized controlled trial with crossover design, we studied volunteer patients (N = 15) who had olanzapine added on to clozapine in a state mental hospital. Clozapine monotherapy was just as effective as clozapine-olanzapine therapy, according to results from Clinical Global Impression Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning as primary outcome measures. Polypharmacy is widely used in treating schizophrenia, and usually, add-on medications are started because of worsening of the clinical state. A major confounding feature of these add-ons is whether observed improvements are caused by the medication or explained by the natural fluctuating course of the disorder. The present study, in spite of its small size, indicates the necessity of reconsidering the value of polypharmacy in treating schizophrenia.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available