Clozapine use decreases the number of hospitalizations per year in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Authors

  • Marina Dalla Barba Londero
  • Mathias Hasse-Sousa Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
  • Carolina Petry-Perin Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
  • Felipe Cesar de Almeida Claudino Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
  • Letícia Sanguinetti Czepielewski Graduate Program in Psychology, Departamento de Psicologia do Desenvolvimento e da Personalidade, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
  • Clarissa Severino Gama Graduate Program in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Keywords:

Schizophrenia, Treatment-resistant, Clozapine, Hospitalization

Abstract

For years, the management of schizophrenia has represented a challenge for clinicians, with antipsychotic treatments usually resulting in relapses and new hospitalizations. Clozapine has been shown to be an effective medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), but is currently underused due to its potential side effects. Nevertheless, research has suggested that clozapine reduces future hospitalizations in patients with TRS. This study aims to verify the rates of hospitalizations in patients with TRS under long-term use of clozapine. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 52 individuals with TRS before and after the use of clozapine. The mean duration of treatment with and without clozapine was 6.6 (± 3.9) and 8.5 years (± 6.6), respectively. Patients had a median of 0.5 (0.74) hospitalizations per year before the use of clozapine and 0 (0.74) hospitalizations after it (p = 0.001). Therefore, the use of clozapine resulted in an expected reduction in the number of hospitalizations per year in individuals with TRS.

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Published

2021-07-26

How to Cite

1.
Londero MDB, Hasse-Sousa M, Petry-Perin C, Claudino FC de A, Czepielewski LS, Gama CS. Clozapine use decreases the number of hospitalizations per year in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clin Biomed Res [Internet]. 2021Jul.26 [cited 2022May21];41(2). Available from: https://www.seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/hcpa/article/view/105254

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Brief Communication

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