Is disorganized schizophrenia a predictor of treatment resistance? Evidence from an observational study

• Published in: Revista brasileira de psiquiatria Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 432 - 434
• Main Authors: Ortiz, Bruno Bertolucci, Araújo Filho, Gerardo Maria de, Araripe Neto, Ary Gadelha de Alencar, Medeiros, Daiane, Bressan, Rodrigo Affonseca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria 01-12-2013; Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Child; clinical predictors; Clozapine - therapeutic use; Clozapine response; disorganized schizophrenia; Drug Resistance; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; PSYCHIATRY; Schizophrenia, Disorganized - drug therapy; Schizophrenia, Paranoid - drug therapy; subtypes of schizophrenia; treatment-resistant schizophrenia; Young Adult; Clozapine response; disorganized schizophrenia; treatment-resistant schizophrenia; subtypes of schizophrenia; clinical predictors
• ISSN: 1516-4446; 1809-452X; 1809-452X; 1516-4446
• DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2013-1190

To investigate whether inpatients with disorganized schizophrenia are more resistant to treatment.
Eighty-five inpatients were assessed at admission and at discharge for schizophrenia subtype, symptom severity, and treatment resistance criteria.
Disorganized patients were significantly more treatment-resistant than paranoid patients (60%, p = 0.001), and presented worse scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI-S), and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) (p < 0.001). Although the difference was not significant, 80% of treatment-resistant patients with disorganized schizophrenia responded to clozapine.
Patients with the disorganized subtype of schizophrenia should benefit from clozapine as a second-line agent.