Issues in polypharmacotherapy: focus on depression in schizophrenia.
The use of polypharmacotherapy in the treatment of psychiatric disorder is commonplace. However, few studies evaluate the safety and efficacy of combination treatments. In general, studies of combinations of drugs are difficult to perform and are not required for approval of medications, nor are they commonly used to justify the almost routine use of combination therapy in daily clinical practice. This article examines the complexities involved in performing research in combination drug therapy and discusses how homogeneity of the study population can influence response to treatment. Studies that evaluate the usefulness of adding antidepressant medication to antipsychotics in the treatment of depression secondary to schizophrenia are used as examples to help illustrate these topics.
Dufresne
R L
RL
University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, Kingston 02881, USA.
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents