Effectiveness of the Korean-Patient Placement Criteria for Alcohol Use Disorders: A Prospective Exploratory Study

Objective@#Various patient placement criteria (PPC) have been developed to address alcohol use disorder (AUD), which has a high relapse rate and imposes substantial socioeconomic costs. Although research has shown PPC to be an effective tool, evidence supporting the Korean-PPC (K-PPC) is insufficient. This paper investigated whether treatment matching with the K-PPC was effective, based on variables related to AUD. @*Methods@#In total, 524 participants were evaluated using the 6 dimensions of the K-PPC and levels of care (LoC) were recommended based on the results. Participants whose treatment matched with the recommended LoC were classified into the matched group, and those whose treatment did not match were classified into the mismatched group. Subsequently, treatment was planned according to the determined LoC, and a total of 3 follow-up evaluations were conducted at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. @*Results@#There was no significant difference in the follow-up rate between the K-PPC matched group and the mismatched group. Of the variables measured by the 6 dimensions of the K-PPC, alcohol-related variables, depression, insight, and biomedical outcomes showed the most significant results (especially alcohol-related variables) from the baseline evaluation to the 6-month follow-up. In addition, the average adherence to the treatment program in the 6-month period was found to be higher in the matched group than in the mismatched group. @*Conclusion@#The K-PPC could be effective for placing patients and providing treatment by matching patient characteristics. Enhancing treatment program retention can also have a positive effect on clinical outcomes.

A Study on Discontinuation Rate on Maintenance Treatment of Antipsychotic Agents in Schizophrenic Patients / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: Relapse prevention is a major therapeutic goal in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, many patients experience multiple functional impairments and treatment resistance due to recurrence. This study was designed to investigate the follow-up of patients with using antipsychotic drugs and to compare the total treatment failure rate, withdrawal reasons, and duration period of antipsychotic drugs. METHODS: The subjects were 1963 patients who taking antipsychotic drugs under the diagnosis of schizophrenia. We selected 1836 patients using 10 antipsychotic drugs according to frequency of using. The rate of total treatment failure of them was divided into 6-month, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year according to the time of drug withdrawal. We compared the total treatment failure rate at 1 and 3-year between 10 antipsychotic drugs. RESULTS: The total treatment failure rate of clozapine was lowest compared with the other 9 antipsychotic drugs in all the surveyed periods. When evaluating actual number of subjects, olanzapine, sulpiride, risperidone, aripiprazole, amisulpride, and haloperidol were lower significantly compared with ziprasidone at 1-year in the total treatment failure rate, but there was no significant difference between them except clozapine at 3-year. The results of the analysis based on the number of prescriptions showed that the total treatment failure rate of the atypical antipsychotic drug was lower than that of the typical antipsychotic drug at 1-year, but the difference was decreased over time except quetiapine and ziprasidone. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, although there is some controversy about which drug to prescribe to the patient, the clinician needs a proper prescription considering various factors such as efficacy, side effects, price, and formulations of each drug.

A Study on Discontinuation Rate on Maintenance Treatment of Antipsychotic Agents in Schizophrenic Patients / 대한정신분열병학회지

OBJECTIVES: Relapse prevention is a major therapeutic goal in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, many patients experience multiple functional impairments and treatment resistance due to recurrence. This study was designed to investigate the follow-up of patients with using antipsychotic drugs and to compare the total treatment failure rate, withdrawal reasons, and duration period of antipsychotic drugs. METHODS: The subjects were 1963 patients who taking antipsychotic drugs under the diagnosis of schizophrenia. We selected 1836 patients using 10 antipsychotic drugs according to frequency of using. The rate of total treatment failure of them was divided into 6-month, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year according to the time of drug withdrawal. We compared the total treatment failure rate at 1 and 3-year between 10 antipsychotic drugs. RESULTS: The total treatment failure rate of clozapine was lowest compared with the other 9 antipsychotic drugs in all the surveyed periods. When evaluating actual number of subjects, olanzapine, sulpiride, risperidone, aripiprazole, amisulpride, and haloperidol were lower significantly compared with ziprasidone at 1-year in the total treatment failure rate, but there was no significant difference between them except clozapine at 3-year. The results of the analysis based on the number of prescriptions showed that the total treatment failure rate of the atypical antipsychotic drug was lower than that of the typical antipsychotic drug at 1-year, but the difference was decreased over time except quetiapine and ziprasidone. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, although there is some controversy about which drug to prescribe to the patient, the clinician needs a proper prescription considering various factors such as efficacy, side effects, price, and formulations of each drug.