Aims: The study aims to determine the clinical outcomes of aripiprazole treatment in adolescents and young adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Methods: This was a 24-week, observational, prospective study. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were prescribed a daily dose of 5 mg to 30 mg of aripiprazole. Effectiveness was assessed by the change from baseline in psychotic symptoms and quality of life.
Results: Forty-two patients with a mean age of 18.1 ± 3.7 years were recruited. Eighteen were experiencing the first episode of psychosis (FEP), whereas the remaining 24 were non-FEP. Psychotic symptoms, but not quality of life, improved globally from baseline scores by the endpoint of the study (effect size = 0.44). Compared with non-FEP patients, FEP patients had greater improvements (effect size = 0.45) in some clinical outcome dimensions during the 24-week aripiprazole treatment.
Conclusion: We observed significant improvements of medium effect sizes in psychotic symptoms of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders within a naturalistic clinical setting, especially for FEP patients.
© 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.