Conditions: Schizophrenia
Keywords: Schizophrenia
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 493
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to compare retrospective hospitalization rates of schizophrenic patients treated with oral antipsychotics to prospective hospitalization rates of these patients treated with IM depot aripiprazole.

Detailed description:
Nonadherence to antipsychotic medications remains a frequent cause of relapse among patients with schizophrenia, increasing hospitalization rates, hospitalization days, and hospitalization costs. Among hospitalized adults, schizophrenia is the fourth most commonly diagnosed illness and has the seventh longest mean duration of hospital stay in the US. Frequent relapses and hospitalization can affect quality of life in these patients. Long-acting injections (intramuscular depot) antipsychotic medication is a means to treatment adherence and increased quality of life for patients with schizophrenia.

Arms:
arm 1: Aripiprazole IM depot injection 300 mg or 400 mg.

Interventions: intervention 1: Aripiprazole (Abilify®) IM Depot Injection
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: 400 mg IM depot injection every 26-30 days. Dosage may be adjusted at the investigator's discretion to 300 mg.

Number of injections: 6. Subjects have the option of entering the extension phase of the study and continuing with injections every 26-30 days until the drug is either commercially available, or December 2013.

Protocol document: