Two trials examined olanzapine and found no difference in the primary outcome ( response to treatment ) and most other efficacy-related outcomes but it was associated with more weight gain than monotherapy with antidepressants .
There were also some beneficial effects of quetiapine in terms of anxiety or depressive symptoms .
BACKGROUND Obsessive compulsive disorder ( OCD ) is a psychiatric disorder which has been shown to affect 2 to 3.5 % of people during their lifetimes .
Inadequate response occurs in 40 % to 60 % of people that are prescribed first line pharmaceutical treatments ( selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) ) .
To date not much is known about the efficacy and adverse effects of second-generation antipsychotic drugs ( SGAs ) in people suffering from OCD .
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of SGAs ( monotherapy or add on ) compared with placebo or other forms of pharmaceutical treatment for people with OCD .
Augmentation of serotonin reuptake inhibitors in refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder using adjunctive olanzapine: a placebo-controlled trial.
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of adding an atypical antipsychotic , olanzapine , to a serotonin reuptake inhibitor ( SRI ) in treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD ) . METHOD Twenty-six patients aged between 18 and 65 ( mean = 41.2 , SD = 11.9 ) years meeting DSM-IV criteria for OCD , who had not responded to SRIs , were treated for 6 weeks in a double-blind , placebo-controlled augmentation study with either olanzapine ( up to 20 mg/day ) or placebo . Severity of illness was assessed biweekly by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale ( Y-BOCS ) . Analysis of covariance with baseline Y-BOCS score included as a covariate was used to compare improvement in Y-BOCS scores in the 2 groups . Response was defined as a 25 % or greater improvement in Y-BOCS score . Data were collected between April 2001 and May 2003 . RESULTS Outcome was assessed for all patients using the last observation carried forward . Subjects in the olanzapine group had a mean decrease of 4.2 ( SD = 7.9 ) in Y-BOCS score compared with a mean increase in score of 0.54 ( SD = 1.31 ) for subjects in the placebo group ( F = 4.85 , df = 2,23 ; p = .04 ) . Six ( 46 % ) of 13 subjects in the olanzapine group showed a 25 % or greater improvement in Y-BOCS score compared with none in the placebo group . The final mean dose of olanzapine was 11.2 ( SD = 6.5 ) mg/day . Medication was well tolerated . Only 2 ( 15 % ) of 13 subjects who received olanzapine discontinued because of side effects : sedation ( N = 1 ) or weight gain ( N = 1 ) . CONCLUSION These results provide preliminary evidence that adding olanzapine to SRIs is potentially efficacious and well tolerated in the short-term treatment of patients with refractory OCD . Controlled studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to more definitively address this treatment strategy
Two trials examined olanzapine and found no difference in the primary outcome ( response to treatment ) and most other efficacy-related outcomes but it was associated with more weight gain than monotherapy with antidepressants .
There were also some beneficial effects of quetiapine in terms of anxiety or depressive symptoms .
BACKGROUND Obsessive compulsive disorder ( OCD ) is a psychiatric disorder which has been shown to affect 2 to 3.5 % of people during their lifetimes .
Inadequate response occurs in 40 % to 60 % of people that are prescribed first line pharmaceutical treatments ( selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs ) ) .
To date not much is known about the efficacy and adverse effects of second-generation antipsychotic drugs ( SGAs ) in people suffering from OCD .
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of SGAs ( monotherapy or add on ) compared with placebo or other forms of pharmaceutical treatment for people with OCD .