Depression in schizophrenia: comparison of first- and second-generation antipsychotic drugs.
The aim of this study was to compare the effects of different antipsychotics on depressive symptoms in schizophrenic patients. The data were drawn from a retrospective, naturalistic, observational study in which 222 subjects diagnosed as being affected by schizophrenia during a re-exacerbation phase received 6 weeks of monotherapy with fluphenazine decanoate, haloperidol decanoate, haloperidol, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone or l-sulpiride. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Extrapyramidal Side Effects Rating Scale (EPSE) and Anticholinergic Rating Scale (ACS) were administered at baseline and six weeks after the beginning of the study; depressive symptoms were evaluated using the BPRS items "depressive mood" and "guilt feelings". All of the antipsychotic drugs led to improvements in the depressive dimension, but this was statistically significant only in the case of fluphenazine decanoate, haloperidol, olanzapine, risperidone and l-sulpiride. A clinical improvement in the depressive dimension significantly correlated with the severity of the psychotic picture and its amelioration. Female patients were significantly more likely to show an improvement in depressive symptoms. In conclusion, our findings suggest that atypical antipsychotics as a class do not seem to be more effective on the depressive dimension during the course of schizophrenia than typical ones, at least as far as the collected BPRS data are concerned. The only factor that seemed to influence the improvement in depressive symptoms during our study was gender, as females were significantly more likely to improve although there were no between-gender differences in the baseline severity of the clinical picture.
Clinical Psychiatry, University of Milan, Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milano, Italy. maurimc@policlinico.mi.it
Massimo C
MC
Mauri
Donatella
D
Moliterno
Matteo
M
Rossattini
Alessandro
A
Colasanti
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000187:drug effects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations