Patients: 262 people aged 16–40 years, with schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizoaffective disorder (DSM-IV), presenting with first episode psychosis. Participants scored >4 on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and had a Clinical Global Impression (CGI) severity score >4. Exclusions: substance use in previous month, received antipsychotic drugs for more than 16 weeks, unstabl...

Patients 201 patients >18 years of age (mean age 40 y, 53% men) who had bipolar disorder, mania, or a mixed diagnosis confirmed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIII-R considered by the site physician to have severe agitation requiring injections and who had a total score >14 on the 5 item Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Excited Component (PANSS-EC) scale with >1 individual sco...

BACKGROUND The co-morbid occurrence of anxiety disorders and schizophrenia has recently begun to be investigated. Social anxiety may be especially important to diagnose and manage among patients with schizophrenia. AIM To investigate the prevalence and correlates of social phobia in patients with schizophrenia. METHOD Diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders as well as co-mo...

The variable results of positive-negative research with schizophrenics underscore the importance of well-characterized, standardized measurement techniques. We report on the development and initial standardization of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for typological and dimensional assessment. Based on two established psychiatric rating systems, the 30-item PANSS was conceived as...

OBJECTIVE Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a human hyperkinetic movement disorder as a result of potentially irreversible long-term chronic first-generation antipsychotic medications. Unfortunately, mechanisms involved in the development of TD have been poorly understood. Previous studies have indicated that some genetic polymorphisms of immune system and dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) genes may be ...

BACKGROUND This 13-week, double-blind study was conducted to confirm the efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate (PP), at dosing regimens approved in other countries, in Asian patients with schizophrenia. METHODS Asian patients (aged ≥20 years) diagnosed with schizophrenia (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision criteria), and having a Positi...

BACKGROUND Family psycho-education is one of the most effective interventions for preventing relapse in patients with schizophrenia. We evaluated the efficacy of a needs-assessment-based educational program in comparison with a current program (textbook based) in the treatment of schizophrenia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients with schizophrenia and their families (N = 60) were allocated to nee...

Glutamate dysregulation may be involved in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Memantine, a drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, acts as a partial uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of memantine as an adjunctive treatment to olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia. In this double-blind, pl...

Introduction Network analysis has been used to explore the interplay between psychopathology and functioning in psychosis, but no study dedicated statistical techniques focus on bridge symptoms connecting these domains. Objectives The current aims estimate network of depressive, negative, positive symptoms, general psychopathology, real-world people with first-episode schizophrenia or schizophr...

Objective: The relationship between autonomic neurocardiac function and schizophrenia remains elusive. This study investigated the relationship between the heart rate variability (HRV) parameters and the severity of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenic patients. Methods: Twenty-one patients receiving risperidone monotherapy and 21 matched normal control subjects were evaluated for HRV analysis. ...