in this study, the aim was to determine whether adding vitamin d to the standard therapeutic regimen of schizophrenic male patients with inadequate vitamin d status could improve some aspects of the symptom burden or not. this study was an open parallel label randomized clinical trial. eighty patients with chronic stable schizophrenia with residual symptoms and vitamin d deficiency were recruit...

We compared the efficacy of ziprasidone and amisulpride in the treatment of negative symptoms and overall psychopathology in subjects who had chronic schizophrenia with predominantly negative symptoms. This multicentre, 12-week, double-blind study randomly assigned subjects with predominantly negative-symptom schizophrenia [i.e. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Negative Subscale sco...

Background: Nonparametric item response theory (IRT) was used to examine (a) the performance of the 30 Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items and their options ((levels of severity), (b) the effectiveness of various subscales to discriminate among differences in symptom severity, and (c) the development of an abbreviated PANSS (Mini-PANSS) based on IRT and a method to link scores to...

BACKGROUND Nonparametric item response theory (IRT) was used to examine (a) the performance of the 30 Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items and their options ((levels of severity), (b) the effectiveness of various subscales to discriminate among differences in symptom severity, and (c) the development of an abbreviated PANSS (Mini-PANSS) based on IRT and a method to link scores to ...

BACKGROUND We present a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available clinical trials concerning the usefulness of aripiprazole in the treatment of the psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder. METHODS A systematic MEDLINE and repository search concerning clinical trials for aripiprazole in bipolar disorder was conducted. RESULTS The meta-analysis of four randomised controlled trials (...

As biomarkers are lacking, multi-item questionnaire-based tools like the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) are used to quantify disease severity in schizophrenia. Analyzing composite PANSS scores as continuous data discards information and violates the numerical nature of the scale. Here a longitudinal analysis based on Item Response Theory is presented using PANSS data from phase II...

Patients with schizophrenia who have predominant negative symptoms are often considered less responsive to treatment. This analysis of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder compares changes in symptom severity between those with predominant versus merely prominent negative symptoms. Prominent negative symptoms were defined by a baseline score of ≥4 on at least 3, or ≥5 on at l...

Background: Thirty percent of schizophrenia patients are treatment-resistant. Objective: This is a single-blinded sham-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as augmentation strategy in patients with clozapine-resistant schizophrenia. Methods: Twenty three subjects were randomly assigned to 12 sessions of ECT (N = 13) or placebo (Sham ECT) (N = 10). The prima...

Results The pooled effect size for acute manic symptoms was equal to 0.34. The NNT was 6 for aripiprazole vs placebo concerning response at week 3 and equal to 14 concerning remission. The average day response started was day 3. The suicide rates were negligible for all groups. In contrast to the individual isolated trials, the meta-analysis for acute bipolar depression suggests a significant d...

In this study, the aim was to determine whether adding vitamin D to the standard therapeutic regimen of schizophrenic male patients with inadequate vitamin D status could improve some aspects of the symptom burden or not. This study was an open parallel label randomized clinical trial. Eighty patients with chronic stable schizophrenia with residual symptoms and Vitamin D deficiency were recruit...