title: Aggression and psychopharmacological treatments in major psychosis and personality disorders during hospitalisation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A number of large-scale studies have shown that there is a relationship between many psychiatric disorders and aggression or violence. As no medication is currently approved for the treatment of aggression, pharmacotherapy (often involving drug combinations) is used on a trial-and-error basis with various degrees of response.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 244 in-patients aged 19-83 years (mean 41.9 ± 11.3 SD). The Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) was used to assess any aggressive or violent behaviors occurring in the week before admission and upon discharge. Psychopathology was assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scales (BPRS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the patients showed a significant improvement (p<0.001) in mean weighted total MOAS scores at the end of the study, with no significant differences between the various drugs or combination therapies. The patients who received combination treatments including antidepressants showed a worsening in the weighted total MOAS score (18.46% ± 114.31% SD); the patients who did not receive antidepressants had an improvement (13.61% ± 257.36% SD) (p=0.0069).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multivariate testing of the variables age, gender, substance/alcohol abuse, the duration of hospitalisation, the administration of mood stabilisers, and the use of typical or atipical antipsychotics showed that the severity of the psychopathological picture correlated significantly with the presence of violence, whereas the effect of combined antidepressant treatment on violent behavior was only relative.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychiatry, IRCCS Foundation Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milano, Italy. maurimc@policlinico.mi.it
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mauri
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rovera
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paletta
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: De Gaspari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maffini
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Altamura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents