New efficacy results for schizophrenia anti-psychotic drugs
OCTOBER 24, 2006
Professor Robin Murray and colleagues participating in the multi-centre study CUtLASS - the Cost Utility of the Latest Antipsychotics in Severe Schizophrenia study - have published new results comparing quality of life of second (SGA) versus first-generation antispsychotic (FGA) drugs in schizophrenia in this month's Archives of General Psychiatry in the US.
These results showed that in people with schizophrenia whose medication is changed for clinical reasons, there is no disadvantage across one year in terms of quality of life, symptoms, or associated costs of care in using FGAs rather than nonclozapine SGAs. Neither inadequate power nor patterns of drug discontinuation accounted for the result.
The CUtLASS multi-centre study group includes researchers and health professionals from the Maudsley, Cambridge University and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health NHS Trust, Imperial College and the University of Manchester.