title: Predictors of response in a sample of treatment-resistant psychotic patients on clozapine.
abstract: This study aims at identifying potential predictors of clinical response and functional outcome in 101 neuroleptic-refractory patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia (N = 34), schizoaffective disorder (N = 30) or bipolar disorder with psychotic features (N = 37), naturalistically treated with clozapine over a 48-month period. The "clinical response" and "functional outcome" criteria were respectively defined a priori as: a reduction of at least 50 % in the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total score in one evaluation with respect to baseline; and a Global Assessment of Functioning Scale score of at least 50. Several clinical and socio-demographic variables were assessed at baseline and only the diagnosis of bipolar disorder was significantly related with the clinical response. Variables significantly related with the functional outcome were female gender, university education and early age at onset.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Biotechnologies, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56127 Pisa, Italy. a.ciapparelli@ao-pisa.toscana.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciapparelli
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ducci
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carmassi
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carlini
authors.forename: Rosemma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paggini
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Catena
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bottai
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dell'Osso
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003710:Demography; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003024:Clozapine