Lack of improvement at week 2 predicts later antipsychotic non-response in people with acute exacerbations of schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychosis

ABSTRACT FROM: Samara MT, Leucht C, Leeflang MM, et al. Early improvement as a predictor of later response to antipsychotics in schizophrenia: a diagnostic test review. Am J Psychiatry 2015;172:617–29. What is already known on this topic? Because there is no conclusive evidence on whether early signs of improvement predict later non-response to antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, the treatment guidelines for schizophrenia, such as those from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence,1 remain unclear as to when a treatment should be changed if patients are unresponsive to a recently prescribed antipsychotic. Therefore, Samara and colleagues performed this diagnostic meta-analysis to examine whether a lack of significant improvement at week 2 could predict ultimate treatment failure. Methods of the study The diagnostic test meta-analysis using mostly individual patient data was conducted to assess whether lack of improvement at week...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Drugs: psychiatry, Schizophrenia spectrum, Guidelines Pharmacological interventions Source Type: research