Author/Editor		Dernovšek, MZ; Tavčar, R
Title		Age at onset of schizophrenia and neuroleptic dosage
Type		članek
Source		Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
Vol. and No.		Letnik 34, št. 12
Publication year		1999
Volume		str. 622-6
Language		eng
Abstract		Background: Lower age at onset of schizophrenia has been traditionally associated with poorer response to treatment and less favourable prognosis. The aim of the study was to find out whether age at onset of schizophrenia is related to the dosage of typical neuroleptics in outpatients. Method: Age at onset was defined as age at first seeking of psychiatric help. Demographic, social and disease-related characteristics were studied in a group of 200 stable outpatients with schizophrenia (100 males and 100 females). Psychopathological symptoms were assessed with the Krawiecka Scale. Neuroleptic dosage was converted to milligrams of chlorpromazine equivalents and logarithmically transformed to obtain normal distribution. Results: Onset ofschizophrenia occurred earlier in males than in females. The average dosage was 251.7 (SD 303.9) mg chlorpromazine equivalents. In a multivariate linear regression model, lower age at onset and higher sum of symptoms were related to the drug dosage. Conclusions: The results confirm the findings of other authors that patients with lower age at onset are less responsive to typical neuroleptics. Some of the patients with early onset would be more ppropriately treated with atypical neuroleptics, which may have better therapeutic efficacy.
Descriptors		SCHIZOPHRENIA FLUPHENAZINE CLOPENTHIXOL ANTIPSYCHOTIC AGENTS AGE OF ONSET SLOVENIA DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP, DRUG