OBJECTIVE In this study, we compared the prevalence rate of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) between young males with schizophrenia and the general young males as the control group, and we also investigated the risk factors of NAFLD in young males with schizophrenia. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a large cross-sectional study consisting of the study group and parallel control group. ...

OBJECTIVE Blonanserin is a novel atypical antipsychotic drug that has efficacy equal to risperidone. We investigated the effects of aripiprazole and blonanserin on clinical symptoms and plasma levels of homovanillic acid (pHVA) and 3-methoxy-4hydroxyphenylglycol in the switching strategy of schizophrenia. METHODS Twenty two Japanese patients with schizophrenia were enrolled into this open stu...

BACKGROUND Long-acting injectable antipsychotics are treatment options for acute and long-term treatment of patients with schizophrenia. In a previously published 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of patients with schizophrenia experiencing an acute psychotic episode, aripiprazole once-monthly 400 mg (AOM 400) produced significantly greater improvement than pla...

BACKGROUND This 13-week, double-blind study was conducted to confirm the efficacy and safety of paliperidone palmitate (PP), at dosing regimens approved in other countries, in Asian patients with schizophrenia. METHODS Asian patients (aged ≥20 years) diagnosed with schizophrenia (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision criteria), and having a Positi...

BACKGROUND Psychosocial dysfunction is one of schizophrenia's core features, often leading to a deprecation of independent living and significant failure to maintain a competent quality of life. Cognitive and occupational performance as well as psychosocial functioning is moreover recognized as determinants of treatment response. Therefore, the elaboration of measures regarding social performan...

BACKGROUND To identify a simple decision tree using early symptom change to predict response to atypical antipsychotic therapy in patients with (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revised) chronic schizophrenia. METHODS Data were pooled from moderately to severely ill patients (n = 1494) from 6 randomized, double-blind trials (N = 2543). Response was defined as a ≥ 30% re...

Lack of hard clinical endpoints is an essential problem in schizophrenia research. Disease state and treatment outcomes are measured using rating scales, e.g. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). However, the PANSS score cannot always differentiate between placebo and drug treatment, even for established antipsychotics. The goal of this study was to identify the individual items of PAN...

abstract background: family psycho-education is one of the most effective interventions for preventing relapse in patients with schizophrenia. we evaluated the efficacy of a needs-assessment–based educational program in comparison with a current program (textbook based) in the treatment of schizophrenia. materials and methods: patients with schizophrenia and their families (n = 60) were allocat...

Objective: Increased risk for arrhythmias and the association between arrhythmogenic markers symptom severity in antipsychotic-free patients with schizophrenia are understudied. We evaluated changes P-wave dispersion (PWD), corrected QT interval (QTc), QTc (QTcd), JT (JTc), JTc (JTcd), Tpeak-Tend (Tp-e), Tp-e/QT ratio. Method: Fifty-six who were at least 1 month 56 age- gendermatched healthy co...