At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .
Aripiprazole augmentation in clozapine-treated patients with refractory schizophrenia: an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE Inadequate response to clozapine poses a substantial problem in the pharmaco-therapy of refractory schizophrenia . This r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole augmentation in clozapine-treated patients with refractory schizophrenia . METHOD Patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia who had a history of treatment failure or partial response to long-term clozapine treatment were recruited . A total of 62 patients with either a baseline Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ( BPRS ) score of at least 35 or more than 2 Schedule for Assessment of Negative Symptoms ( SANS ) global rating item scores of at least 3 were r and omly assigned to double-blind augmentation treatment with either aripiprazole ( 5 - 30 mg/day ) or placebo over 8 weeks . The primary outcome measure was change in BPRS total score from baseline . The study was conducted between December 1 , 2005 , and December 10 , 2006 . RESULTS There was no significant difference in the primary outcome measure between the 2 groups . In secondary analyses , improvement was significantly greater with aripiprazole treatment than with placebo for negative symptoms assessed by both the BPRS negative symptom sub-scale and the SANS total score but not for positive symptoms . Prolactin and triglyceride levels were significantly lower in the aripiprazole group than in the placebo group . No significant differences between the 2 groups were observed in adverse effects , including extrapyramidal symptoms and serum glucose levels . CONCLUSION Although aripiprazole augmentation of clozapine did not lead to a significant improvement of total symptom severity in schizophrenia , a favorable change in the negative symptom domain was observed
At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .