title: Weight gain as a prognostic indicator of therapeutic improvement during acute treatment of schizophrenia with placebo or active antipsychotic.
abstract: Treatment-emergent weight gain may be a general marker of therapeutic improvement, even when improvements occur in the absence of active antipsychotic treatment. To investigate the association between treatment-emergent weight gain and therapeutic improvement across placebo and active treatments, and to examine the association between reported treatment-emergent weight changes and the treatments' reported efficacy. Data from a randomized, double-blind trial comparing treatment of schizophrenia with placebo and olanzapine were used to correlate weight change and change in psychopathology. Additionally, we correlated effect sizes of the efficacy of clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, haloperidol and placebo (reported in meta-analytical reviews), with their reported weight changes. Weight gain significantly correlated with clinical improvements for placebo and olanzapine. The correlation between treatments' efficacy and corresponding weight changes was high (r 0.88, p 0.05). Treatment-emergent weight gain appears to be an important marker of symptom reduction, and may not be exclusively attributable to pharmacological perturbations.
authors.affiliation: Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA. haya@lilly.com
authors.forename: Haya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ascher-Svanum
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Stensland
authors.forename: Bruce J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kinon
authors.forename: Gary D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Tollefson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077152:Olanzapine; D015990:Placebo Effect; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D003024:Clozapine; D006220:Haloperidol; D018967:Risperidone; D000077152:Olanzapine