Effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole in child and adolescent inpatients: a retrospective evaluation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole use in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients. This was a naturalistic, retrospective evaluation of the discharged patients treated with aripiprazole on the child and adolescent unit at the Austin State Hospital. To be included, patients had to be <18 years of age and treated with aripiprazole for at least two consecutive weeks during their hospital stay. We used a chart extracted Clinical Global Impression of Improvement, and a chart extracted Clinical Global Impression of Severity of Illness score to determine their effectiveness. Adverse events and side effects recorded in the physician or nursing notes were collected to establish tolerability. Forty-five patients met the criteria and were included in this analysis. Average clinical global impression of severity of illness scores at baseline and endpoint were 5.04+/-0.91 and 3.33+/-1.24 respectively. This difference was statistically significant (Wilcoxon's signed-rank test: Z=-5.179, P<0.001). Fifty-one percent of the youth had a clinical global impression of severity of illness score that was much improved or very much improved (clinical global impression of improvement score of 1 or 2). Significant reduction in clinical global impression of severity of illness scores suggests a decline in the symptom severity for patients treated with aripiprazole. On the basis of the reported adverse events and side effects, aripiprazole was generally well tolerated. Randomized controlled trials of aripiprazole in childhood mental disorders are warranted.