Schizophrenia (maintenance treatment)

Abstract

Introduction: One in a hundred people will develop schizophrenia; about 75% of people have relapses and continued disability, and a third fail to respond to standard treatment. Positive symptoms include auditory hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder. Negative symptoms (demotivation, self-neglect, and reduced emotion) have not been consistently improved by any treatment.

Methods and outcomes: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: Which interventions reduce relapse; and improve adherence rates? Which interventions are effective in people resistant to standard antipsychotic drugs? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to October 2007 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Results: We found 45 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

Conclusions: In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: behavioural therapy, clozapine, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), compliance therapy, continuation of antipsychotic drugs (reduce relapse rates), first-generation antipsychotic drugs in treatment-resistant people, multiple-session family interventions, psychoeducational interventions, second-generation antipsychotic drugs in treatment-resistant people, and social-skills training.