COMBINATION OF ZONISAMIDE AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN OBESE SCHIZOPHRENIC INPATIENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the potential neurobiological significance of subjective experiences, the studies on clinical meaning of patientreported side effects have been scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate the interplay between psychiatric symptoms, insight, and subjective side effects of patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotic treatment. Methods: Clinical data were collected from 2 antipsychotic trials. A total of 175 patients were repeatedly assessed using the Liverpool University Neuroleptic Side-Effect Rating Scale (LUNSERS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 4 of antipsychotic treatment. Insight item of PANSS (G12) was used as a measure of insight. After controlling for the effects of insight, partial correlations were calculated for the relationships between PANSS five factors and LUNSERS eight categories. Results: Differential pattern of partial correlations was observed between PANSS factor and LUNSERS category scores from baseline through 4-week treatment. At baseline, PANSS total score significantly correlated with LUNSERS total and category scores. After 1-week treatment, there were numerous positive relationships between PANSS factors and LUNSERS categories. Most of these relationships disappeared after 4-week treatment. In addition, poor insight was a strong predictor of positive relationships between PANSS factors and LUNSERS categories. Conclusions: The severity of psychiatric symptoms appears to affect the patient-reported treatment-emergent side effects during the initial phase of antipsychotic treatment. On the other hand, the subjective assessment of side effects may be useful in the maintenance phase. Measuring the level of insight is needed in the safety assessment. References