TITLE:
Differences in Baseline Characteristics of Patients Treated with Olanzapine or Other Antipsychotics in Japanese Patients with Acute Schizophrenia: A 1-Year Observational Study under Routine Clinical Practice in Japan
AUTHORS:
Michihiro Takahashi, Shinji Fujikoshi, Jumpei Funai, Levent Alev, Masaomi Iyo
KEYWORDS:
Schizophrenia, Baseline Characteristics, Olanzapine, Antipsychotics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.5 No.3,
July
27,
2015
ABSTRACT: Objective: Baseline
characteristics of acute schizophrenia patients were analyzed to identify
differences in the baseline characteristics of patients treated with olanzapine
monotherapy compared with those treated with other antipsychotic monotherapies.
Methods: This prospective, naturalistic observational study was designed to
evaluate discontinuation rates of olanzapine and non-olanzapine antipsychotic
monotherapy in Japanese adult patients with acute schizophrenia. Results: A
total of 1089 patients were assessed: 578 patients were treated with
olanzapine, 487 with non-olanzapine atypical antipsychotics, and 24 with
typical antipsychotics. The mean Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S)
Schizophrenia, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total, and BPRS positive
scores were higher in patients treated with olanzapine compared with most of
the non-olanzapine treated patients. The majority of patients with a CGI-S
Schizophrenia score of 7 (29/41 patients) as well as patients with a BPRS total
score of 90 or higher (14/18 patients) were treated with olanzapine. On the
other hand, physicians tended to prescribe antipsychotics other than olanzapine
for patients with heavier body weight or diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: The
present study demonstrated that olanzapine was more likely to be prescribed to
patients with more severe schizophrenia symptoms. However, further studies are
warranted to reach a definite conclusion.