Reasons for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine in the treatment of schizophrenia from the perspectives of patients and clinicians
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to assess the reasons for discontinuing or continuing olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia, from the perspectives of the patients and their clinicians. METHODS The Reasons for Antipsychotic Discontinuation/Continuation (RAD) is a pair of questionnaires assessing these reasons from the perspectives of patients and their clinicians. Outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 199) who were not acutely ill participated in a 22-week open-label study of olanzapine from November 2006 to September 2008. Reasons for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine (on a five-point scale), along with the single most important reason and the top primary reasons, were identified. Concordance between reasons given by patients and clinicians was assessed. RESULTS The top primary reasons for continuing olanzapine were patients' perceptions of improvement, improvement of positive symptoms, and improved functioning. The study discontinuation rate was low (30.2%), and only a subset of patients who discontinued reported reasons for medication discontinuation. The top primary reasons for discontinuing olanzapine were insufficient improvement or worsening of positive symptoms, adverse events, and insufficient improvement or worsening of negative symptoms. Ratings given by patients and clinicians were highly concordant. CONCLUSION The main reason for continuing or discontinuing olanzapine appears to be medication efficacy, especially for positive symptoms. Reasons for medication discontinuation differ somewhat from reasons for continuation, with a high level of concordance between patient and clinician responses.
منابع مشابه
Effect of Olanzapine and Risperidone on Oxidative Stress in Schizophrenia Patients
Oxidative stress has been suggested to contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Increased oxidative stress is the result of either an increased production of free radicals or a depletion of the endogenous antioxidants. However, whether this imbalance of oxidant-antioxidant status in schizophrenia is integral to disease itself or the effect of antipsychotic drugs is not clearly unders...
متن کاملOlanzapine-Induced Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but life-threatening idiosyncratic side effect resulting from neuroleptic drugs. NMS mainly occurs in patients treated with high-potency typical antipsychotics, but rarely caused by atypical antipsychotics. Although NMS is less common with atypical antipsychotic, but it seems that its incidence is rising due to increased administration of such drug...
متن کاملSurvey of the effect of memantine on negative sign in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders
Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of memantine on negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective. Methods: This is a double- blind randomized clinical trial. 58 patients participated in the study, 29 patients were randomly assigned to the memantine group and 29 patients to the placebo group. For assessing negative signs, and we used scale for the assess...
متن کاملSurvey of the effect of memantine on negative sign in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders
Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of memantine on negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective. Methods: This is a double- blind randomized clinical trial. 58 patients participated in the study, 29 patients were randomly assigned to the memantine group and 29 patients to the placebo group. For assessing negative signs, and we used scale for the assess...
متن کاملSafety and tolerability of switching to asenapine from other antipsychotic agents: pooled results from two randomized multicenter trials in stable patients with persistent negative symptoms in schizophrenia
BACKGROUND In clinical practice, clinicians often need to switch antipsychotic medications in patients with schizophrenia to optimize treatment outcomes. Here, we describe the safety and tolerability of switching existing antipsychotic treatments to asenapine or olanzapine monotherapy using various switching regimens. METHODS Data were pooled from 949 patients in two 26-week randomized double...
متن کامل