Psychopharmacotherapy and remission of patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a clinical syndrome of variable, but profoundly disruptive, psychopathology that involves cognition, emotion, perception and other aspects of behavior The Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group (RSWG) has defined criteria for symptomatic remission based on achieving and maintaining a consistently low symptom threshold for at least six consecutive months. Aim of our study was to determine which antipsychotic are used in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, as well as to assess are there differences between patients treated with typical and atypical antipsychotics and how many of them are in remission according to the defined remission criteria. All outtreated patients with schizophrenia treated at the University Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Osijek in the period of three months were assessed. The patients were divided in two groups, one group of patients treated with typical antipsychotics, and the other group treated with atipycal antipsychotics. All of them were assessed with specially designed questionnaire about sociodemographic data, than with 8 item of PANSS (remission criteria), and with Clinical Global Impression scale. The authors analysed 193patients with schizophrenia, 65 (33.7%) of them were treated with typical antipsychotics, and 128 (66.3%) patients were treated with atypical antipsychotics. Younger and work active patients are more often treated with atypical antipsychotics. Authors did not found statistically significant differences in two groups of patients regarding the scores on PANSS, CGI and number of patients in remission.