title: Psychotropic drug treatment, clinical characteristics and cognitive processing speed in patients with schizophrenia: results from the ELAN study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychotropic drug combinations (PDC) are common in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia but there is little research regarding the effects of PDC on cognition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of antipsychotic monotherapy and various types of PDC on cognitive processing speed (CPS).
  
  
  METHODS
  ELAN is a 24-month multi-site prospective observational controlled trial following up 374 patients with schizophrenia under routine treatment conditions following discharge from inpatient treatment. The propensity score method, multinomial logistic regression analyses and mixed effects regression models were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CPS correlated significantly with PANSS and GAF scores and improved over time in the monotherapy group. Negative effects of some PDC (antipsychotics + tranquilizers/antipsychotics+at least 2 other psychopharmacological subclasses, sedative/anticholinergic drugs/high adjusted antipsychotic dose) lost significance after controlling for clinical characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Indications for PDC should be examined with care although, in the present study, effects on cognition were small.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry II, Ulm University, Bezirkskrankenhaus Günzburg, Germany. karel.frasch@bkh-guenzburg.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frasch
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weiser
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Längle
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steinert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Niederreiner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pfiffner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bayer
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Eschweiler
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kilian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs