title: Effect of olanzapine or risperidone treatment on some cognitive functions in a one-year follow-up of schizophrenia outpatients with prominent negative symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare olanzapine and risperidone outcome on some neurocognitive dimensions in chronic schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  We randomised and followed for 1 year 235 chronic schizophrenia outpatients with a SANS global score > or =10 to open-label flexible-dose treatment with olanzapine or risperidone. Clinical, functional and cognitive assessments [including the COGLAB battery reaction time, vigilance-span of apprehension (VSA) and a card-sorting task] were done periodically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between olanzapine (n=120) and risperidone (n=115) treatments in the neurocognitive dimensions tested. Mean+/-SD doses were 12.2+/-5.8 mg/day of olanzapine and 4.9+/-2.0 mg/day of risperidone. Patients in the olanzapine group showed a significant improvement in the VSA total score, but the within-group change was modest (effect size of 0.26); the difference with the risperidone group was not significant (p=0.207). Patients in both groups showed a significant improvement in a composite measure of executive efficiency based on the card-sorting task, with within-group effect size of 0.21 (risperidone) and 0.35 (olanzapine); the between-group difference was not significant (p=0.164). At baseline, better functional status correlated with VSA. Patients scoring lower on VSA or executive efficiency at baseline improved more on these respective measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modest pro-cognitive effects can also be found in chronic schizophrenia outpatients with prominent negative symptoms when treated with olanzapine or risperidone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Av. Madrid 11, E-18071 Granada, Spain. gurpegui@ugr.es
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gurpegui
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bousoño
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciudad
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carlos Gómez
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Olivares
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D000077152:Olanzapine; D010045:Outpatients; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D012919:Social Behavior; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D018967:Risperidone; D000077152:Olanzapine