The relationship between quality of life and clinical efficacy from a randomized trial comparing olanzapine and ziprasidone.
OBJECTIVE
To examine treatment-specific changes in health-related quality of life (QOL) among patients with schizophrenia and to assess the association between clinical and QOL improvement.


METHODS
This post hoc analysis used the findings of a 28-week, randomized, multicenter trial of patients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV) treated with olanzapine (10-20 mg/day) or ziprasidone (80-160 mg/day). Data were collected from August 2001 to December 2002. Efficacy was measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Quality of life was assessed with the generic health self-administered Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) and the disease-specific expert-administered Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Mixed-effects-repeated-measures and last-observation-carried-forward approaches were used to assess the effects of treatment on QOL and the association of clinical outcomes to QOL outcomes.


RESULTS
Olanzapine- and ziprasidone-treated patients demonstrated similar improvement from baseline to endpoint on the SF-36 and QLS. All correlations between changes in PANSS scores and the SF-36 were significant (p < .001), ranging from -0.159 to -0.400. All correlations between changes in PANSS scores and the QLS were significant (p < .0001), ranging from -0.286 to -0.603. The correlations between the 2 QOL measures were generally significant but small to moderate in magnitude.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that, in patients with schizophrenia, olanzapine and ziprasidone treatment are associated with significant QOL and clinical improvements. Further, the significant correlation between change scores on the PANSS and QOL measures suggests that treatment-related clinical improvements are associated with improved health-related and disease-specific QOL.


BACKGROUND
ClinicalStudyResults.org identifier 2347.
Phillips
Glenn A
GA
Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA. phillipsga@lilly.com
Van Brunt
David L
DL
Roychowdhury
Suraja M
SM
Xu
Wen
W
Naber
Dieter
D
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D000077152:Olanzapine; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D010879:Piperazines; D013844:Thiazoles; D001569:Benzodiazepines; C092292:ziprasidone; D000077152:Olanzapine