PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 480 - 18 Jun 2005

Fewer hospitalisations with long-term clozapine for schizophreniaLong-term treatment with clozapine reduces

hospitalisation rate and duration of hospital stay inpatients with schizophrenia, report researchers fromSouth Korea.

They reviewed records for 117 patients with a historyof treatment-resistant schizophrenia who receivedclozapine at a mean dosage of 237 mg/day for > 1 year(mean 4 years).

The data analysis showed a significant decrease in themean number of hospitalisations after long-termclozapine treatment (from 1.85 before clozapinetreatment to 0.4 thereafter). Furthermore, the meanduration of hospitalisation stay was significantly shorter(reduced from 117 to 30 days) and the number ofhospital days per year significantly smaller (reducedfrom 30 to 7 days) after clozapine treatment.Ahn YM, et al. Reduction in hospital stay of chronic schizophrenic patients afterlong-term clozapine treatment. International Clinical Psychopharmacology 20:157-161, No. 3, May 2005 801009602

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PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 18 Jun 2005 No. 4801173-5503/10/0480-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved