CONCLUSIONS This review provides some support to the notion that patients experiencing antipsychotic side-effects are at risk of developing more negative attitudes toward medication .
BACKGROUND Antipsychotics are associated with a wide range of side-effects .
Many patients experience antipsychotics as unpleasant and something they would rather avoid , leading some of them to discontinue taking their medication .
The importance of evaluating the patients ' perspective , especially their attitudes toward medication in the presence of side-effects , has long been emphasized .
However , no definite conclusion has been made to date on the relationship between antipsychotic side-effects and attitudes toward medication .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this systematic review was to determine the best available evidence regarding the impact of antipsychotic side-effects on attitudes toward medication in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders , which include schizoaffective and schizophreniform disorders .
SEARCH STRATEGY The search aim ed to find published studies using a range of data bases .
Effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of ziprasidone for treating schizophrenia patients undergoing usual care: A 12-month, open-label, flexible-dose, naturalistic observational trial
OBJECTIVE This is a first report from a long-term study aim ed to evaluate efficacy , safety , tolerability , cognitive functioning , and quality of life outcomes during ziprasidone treatment of chronic schizophrenia patients in the " real-world " . METHOD Seventy clinical ly unstable schizophrenia patients with persistent symptoms or troublesome side effects were assigned to a 12-month , open-label , flexible-dose ( 40 - 160 mg/day ) , large-scale , naturalistic trial . Outcome measures were taken at baseline , 6 , and 12 months , and included the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ( PANSS ) , the Clinical Global Impression ( CGI-S ) scale , the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale ( GAF ) scores , treatment-emergent adverse events , body weight , and drug attitude . RESULTS Thirty-two patients fully completed the study protocol . A discontinuation of treatment for any cause occurred in 54.3 % of patients ; the mean time until discontinuation was 4.4 + /- 2.7 months . A discontinuation due to lack of clinical efficacy was more predominantly linked to patient perception ( 25.7 % ) than to physicians ' conclusions alone ( 8.6 % ) , adverse events ( 11.4 % ) , and other reasons ( 8.6 % ) . After controlling daily dose of ziprasidone , concomitant medications and sex , ANCOVA revealed improvement in PANSS factors , and global functioning among patients who had completed the study . Improvement in PANSS and GAF dimensions was evident at a 6-month visit , and it continued until the endpoint . When a cutoff of 20 % improvement of PANSS total scores was used , the response rate among completers was 43.8 % . Most common side effects were : fatigue , sleep disturbances , and headache . Ziprasidone did not appear to be linked to weight gain . CONCLUSION This study suggests that ziprasidone may be beneficial for long-term treatment of schizophrenia patients in terms of severity of symptoms , and general functioning . Ziprasidone is well tolerated during the long-term treatment of chronic schizophrenia patients undergoing usual care
CONCLUSIONS This review provides some support to the notion that patients experiencing antipsychotic side-effects are at risk of developing more negative attitudes toward medication .
BACKGROUND Antipsychotics are associated with a wide range of side-effects .
Many patients experience antipsychotics as unpleasant and something they would rather avoid , leading some of them to discontinue taking their medication .
The importance of evaluating the patients ' perspective , especially their attitudes toward medication in the presence of side-effects , has long been emphasized .
However , no definite conclusion has been made to date on the relationship between antipsychotic side-effects and attitudes toward medication .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this systematic review was to determine the best available evidence regarding the impact of antipsychotic side-effects on attitudes toward medication in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders , which include schizoaffective and schizophreniform disorders .
SEARCH STRATEGY The search aim ed to find published studies using a range of data bases .