title: The effects of switching from oral to LAI antipsychotic treatment on subjective experience of schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients: Preliminary results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present real-world preliminary evidence on the specific effects of switching from oral to long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic treatment on patient's subjective experience and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of clinically stable psychotic subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-six clinically stable adult schizophrenic and schizoaffective outpatients were recruited. All patients were under a stabilized therapy with a single oral second-generation antipsychotic and were switched to the equivalent maintenance regimen with the long-acting formulation of the same antipsychotic. Two subgroups of patients were created on the basis of the presence/absence of a complete clinical remission at enrollment. Anthropometric (body mass index), psychometric (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, and Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale), and patient's reported outcome (Subjective Well-Being Under Neuroleptics scale short form, Drug Attitude Inventory short version, and Short Form-36 health survey) data were collected at enrollment (T0) and after 6 months from the treatment switch (T1).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvements in psychometric indexes, and patients' subjective experience of treatment and attitudes toward drug (reflecting in an enrichment of patients' health-related QoL) were found both in initial remitters and non-remitters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary results suggest that the switch from oral to LAI antipsychotic treatment may help to address the subjective core of an optimal and satisfying recovery of psychotic patients. Size and duration of this study need to be expanded in order to produce more solid and generalizable results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, Section of Neuroscience, University of Florence , Florence , Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pietrini
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spadafora
authors.forename: Gabriela Alina
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Talamba
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Godini
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lelli
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arcabasso
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manetti
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ballerini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations
keywords: Antipsychotic; long acting injectable; quality of life; schizoaffective; schizophrenia; subjective