Criteria for evaluating improvement in schizophrenia in psychopharmacological research (with special reference to gamma endorphin fragments).
A review of treatment trials with DT gamma E revealed widely discrepant results. Relevant variables were the variety of measures employed for monitoring psychotic symptoms, and the different criteria used to judge the degree of improvement. The authors suggest a uniform outcome criterion for early trials of new treatments, which would generate more consistent and comparable results between studies, and give a stronger indication of the value of the treatment under test. When the data from the various treatment trials of DT gamma E were reanalysed, applying a uniform outcome criterion of improvement of a change of 80% or more on rating-scale score, the results were more consistent than would have been suspected from the original reports.
Manchanda
R
R
University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Hirsch
S R
SR
Barnes
T R
TR
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D004723:Endorphins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D004723:Endorphins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C018903:gamma-endorphin, des-Tyr(1)-