Aim. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate changes in clinical indicators which influence the quality of life (QOL) of patients with schizophrenia treated by antipsychotic therapy before and after switching to aripiprazole. Methods. A retrospective chart review of 27 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and who were switched from one antipsychotic to aripiprazole was performe...

BACKGROUND Several reports on patients with chronic schizophrenia suggest that atypical versus typical antipsychotics are expected to lead to better quality of life (QOL) and cognitive function. Our aim was to examine the association of chronic treatment with typical or atypical antipsychotics with cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms, QOL, and drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms in long-h...

OBJECTIVE Positive associations between polymorphisms in the type-three metabotropic glutamate receptor gene (GRM3) and the pathogenesis of schizophrenia as well as response to antipsychotic treatment have been reported. The objective of this study was to determine whether refractory psychiatric symptoms in antipsychotic non-responders are related to polymorphisms in GRM3. METHODS Ninety-five...

BACKGROUND Previous research indicated that women are more vulnerable than men to adverse psychological consequences of weight gain. Other research has suggested that weight gain experienced during antipsychotic therapy may also psychologically impact women more negatively. This study assessed the impact of acute treatment-emergent weight gain on clinical and functional outcomes of patients wit...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Phenomenological studies on mood disorder are rare in Nepal which prompted us to undertake the current factor analytical study of mania. MATERIALS AND METHODS It was a cross-sectional descriptive study for which we did purposive sampling technique according to certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study sample consists of fifty patients, who fulfilled the Int...

BACKGROUND Patients having psychiatric diagnoses often experience high level of distress. Religiousness is often used by them as part of their coping mechanism and problem-solving strategies. OBJECTIVE To determine the level of religious commitment and coping methods in psychiatric patients and its relationship with distress level. METHODS Religious commitment and coping patterns were measu...

BACKGROUND The aim of study was to investigate predictors of long term use of psychiatric services of patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. METHODS A cohort of 50 clinically stable patients with recent-onset schizophrenia was included in a randomized controlled trial comparing early integrated treatment with treatment as usual. Recent onset was defined as emergence of psychotic symptoms f...

Psychotic symptoms are a frequent occurrence in Parkinson's disease (PD), affecting up to 50% of patients. The Movement Disorder Society established a Task Force on Rating Scales in PD, and this critique applies to published, peer-reviewed rating psychosis scales used in PD psychosis studies. Twelve psychosis scales/questionnaires were reviewed. None of the reviewed scales adequately captured t...

OBJECTIVE This study examined outcomes following discharge on clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients with and without diagnosed substance abuse histories. METHODS Those discharged on clozapine from a research unit between April 1991 and March 1996 were followed with respect to hospitalization status. Of the treatment-resistant patients with schizophrenia, 19 were diagnosed a...

Patients with schizophrenia often present sleep complaints, but its relationship with general satisfaction with life (SWL) and burden for caregivers has been understudied. We aimed to assess the differences in SWL between patients with and without self-reported sleep disturbances and that of their caregivers. In a noninterventional study, 811 schizophrenia adult outpatients were screened for th...