Correlation between early subjective response to antipsychotics and the number of hospitalizations and hospitalization days in a period of 10-11 years in schizophrenia patients.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Research into the significance of early subjective response to antipsychotic medication has so far only involved observation periods of up to 1 year. METHOD: The Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) questionnaires, completed by patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia in 1997-1998, were the bases for this study. In 2009, data on 36 patients (18 women and 18 men) with 10-11 years of follow-up information were found whose completed DAI questionnaires were on record in the hospital register. The data included the number of hospitalizations, which enabled to calculate the total number of days spent in hospital for each patient. Statistical analysis examined possible correlations between the DAI scale results and the number of hospitalizations in 1997/1998-2009 and the number of days spent in the hospital during that period of time. RESULTS: The total number of hospitalizations in the period of 11-12 years has shown no correlations with the results of the DAI-10 scale (p = 0.23). However, the number of days spent in hospital in the period of observation has shown a reverse correlation between the results of the DAI-10 scale in 1997-1998 and the number of days spent in hospital (p = 0.037). The higher the result of the DAI-10 scale was in 1997-1998 (indicating the absence of a dysphoric response to antipsychotic medications), the fewer days of hospitalization were found in the researched period. CONCLUSIONS: Early subjective response to antipsychotic drugs shows a relation to the number of days spent in hospital in the period of observation over 10 years. The data suggest that an early dysphoric response to antipsychotic medications is associated with more days spent in the hospital during subsequent years.