title: Balancing therapeutic safety and efficacy to improve clinical and economic outcomes in schizophrenia: exploring the treatment landscape.
abstract: Schizophrenia is a chronic, often debilitating illness that is associated with progressive cognitive and functional decline, and which requires lifelong pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatments for effective disease management. In an effort to provide the optimal overall care for patients with schizophrenia, careful consideration of the risks and benefits must be incorporated into treatment decisions. While much debate continues regarding whether newer secondgeneration (ie, "atypical") antipsychotics are superior to first-generation (ie, "typical") agents in the treatment of schizophrenia, it remains paramount that clinicians consider both the unique adverse effect profile of each medication and the clinical characteristics of individual patients that may influence the risk for specific adverse effects or treatment nonadherence. Perhaps the most important component of critical care for patients with schizophrenia is the monitoring for and management of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, as they are key contributors to premature mortality in schizophrenia. Despite advances in nonpharmacologic treatments and ongoing drug development, antipsychotic medications remain the standard of care for the core symptoms of schizophrenia. There is a need for meticulous primary care in patients with schizophrenia, and optimal treatment of this complex disease should involve an integrative approach that combines psychosocial, educational, and pharmacologic management.
authors.affiliation: dcj2113@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Javitt
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents