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Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access published online on March 15, 2006
Schizophrenia Bulletin, doi:10.1093/schbul/sbj067
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Article

Randomized Controlled Trial of Effect of Prescription of Clozapine Versus Other Second-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs in Resistant Schizophrenia

Shôn W. Lewis 1 *, Thomas R. E. Barnes 2, Linda Davies 1, Robin M. Murray 3, Graham Dunn 1, Karen P. Hayhurst 1, Alison Markwick 1, Helen Lloyd 2, and Peter B. Jones 4
1 University of Manchester
2 Imperial College, London
3 Institute of Psychiatry, London
4 University of Cambridge

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Shôn W. Lewis, E-mail: shon.lewis{at}manchester.ac.uk


  Abstract

There is good evidence that clozapine is more efficacious than first-generation antipsychotic drugs in resistant schizophrenia. It is less clear if clozapine is more effective than the other second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) drugs. A noncommercially funded, pragmatic, open, multisite, randomized controlled trial was conducted in the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS). Participants were 136 people aged 18-65 with DSM-IV schizophrenia and related disorders whose medication was being changed because of poor clinical response to 2 or more previous antipsychotic drugs. Participants were randomly allocated to clozapine or to one of the class of other SGA drugs (risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, amisulpride) as selected by the managing clinician. Outcomes were assessed blind to treatment allocation. One-year assessments were carried out in 87% of the sample. The intent to treat comparison showed no statistically significant advantage for commencing clozapine in Quality of Life score (3.63 points; CI: 0.46-7.71; p = .08) but did show an advantage in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score that was statistically significant (-4.93 points; CI: -8.82 to -1.05; p = .013) during follow-up. Clozapine showed a trend toward having fewer total extrapyramidal side effects. At 12 weeks participants who were receiving clozapine reported that their mental health was significantly better compared with those receiving other SGA drugs. In conclusion, in people with schizophrenia with poor treatment response to 2 or more antipsychotic drugs, there is an advantage to commencing clozapine rather than other SGA drugs in terms of symptom improvement over 1 year.

Keywords: schizophrenia; clozapine; quality of life; clinical trial.
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