Caracterización clínica y terapéutica de un muestreo portugués de paeientes con esquizofrenia

Translated title of the contribution: Clinical and therapeutic characterization of a Portuguese sample of patients with schizophrenia

Frederico Simões Do Couto*, Cristina Queiroz, Teresa Barbosa, Luis Ferreira, Horácio Firmino, Miguel Viseu, Luisa Ramos, Jose Romero, Maria Luisa Figueira

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction. The development of Mental Health policies for psychiatric disorders should be driven by a correct knowledge of the socio-demographic, clinical and therapeutic realities of the disease. There is paucity of detailed studies in the Portuguese population that does not allow a direct comparation with other European countries. The objective of the present study is to characterize the sociodemograhic and clinical characteristics of schizophrenia patients in Portugal and the therapeutic patterns. Methods. This multicentric, cross sectional, non interventional study was designed to describe the demographic and clinical data of patients with schizophrenia (n=474), and also the demographic and professional characteristics of their treating psychiatrists. Results. The most frequent diagnosis found was paranoid schizophrenia (54%), with comorbid psychiatric conditions in 39, 7% and somatic diseases in 28.4% of the patients. About half the patients were on second generation antipsychotics (SGS) as principal therapy, although haloperidol has been the most frequent drug prescribed as so (35.9%). 59.51% of the patients were on antipsychotic monotherapy, and 45% on a depot formulation. Antipsychotic dose vary widely, and they are quite often prescribed on off label doses. Discussion. Our sample is similar to others found in naturalistic studies, however slightly different from clinical trials. In general, patients with schizophrenia tend to be treated with SGA, although have a higher chance to be on a long-term formulation and to be on polytherapy than in other studies. Somatic diseases are maybe under diagnosed and are undertreated.

Translated title of the contributionClinical and therapeutic characterization of a Portuguese sample of patients with schizophrenia
Original languageSpanish
Pages (from-to)147-154
Number of pages8
JournalActas Espanolas de Psiquiatria
Volume39
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - May 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Demography
  • Epidemiology
  • Portugal
  • Schizophrenia
  • Therapeutics

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