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Physician observations and perceptions of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia: A multinational, cross-sectional survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2007

Yves Lecrubier ,
Richard Perry ,
Gary Milligan ,
Oscar Leeuwenkamp  and
Robert Morlock
Yves Lecrubier*
Affiliation:
Unité INSERM 302, Pavillon Clérambault, Hô pital Pitié Salpêtriére, 47 Boulevard de l’Hô pital, F-75013Paris, France
Richard Perry
Affiliation:
Adelphi Group Products, Bollington, Cheshire, UK
Gary Milligan
Affiliation:
Adelphi Group Products, Bollington, Cheshire, UK
Oscar Leeuwenkamp
Affiliation:
NV Organon, Oss, The Netherlands
Robert Morlock
Affiliation:
Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA
*
∗Corresponding author. E-mail address: lecru@ext.jussieu.fr (Y. Lecrubier).
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Abstract

Purpose

To describe physicians' observations and perceptions of patients with schizophrenia and to obtain information about antipsychotic prescribing practices.

Methods

Psychiatrists in the United States and five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) who prescribed antipsychotics for ≥15 patients with schizophrenia within the preceding 3 months provided data on their patients' demographic and clinical characteristics and their antipsychotic prescribing practices and drug attributes influencing treatment choice.

Results

Data were collected from 872 physicians on 6523 patients (85% European, 15% US). Most patients were aged 25–44 years, 63% were men, and 66% were outpatients. About 50% of patients were moderately to grossly dysfunctional; about 50% were unemployed; 34% and 75% were taking conventional or atypical antipsychotics, respectively. Frequently identified positive symptoms included delusions (73%), disordered thought (59%), and hallucinations (59%); common negative symptoms included social withdrawal (54%), impoverished thought (39%), and blunted affect (38%). Reasons for antipsychotic selection included efficacy for positive (90%) or negative symptoms (62%) and tolerability (47%). Inadequate control was reported more frequently for negative (71–77%) than positive (47–60%) symptoms. Adverse events included sedation, weight gain, and extrapyramidal symptoms.

Conclusions

In this large, multinational, cross-sectional survey, physicians reported that positive symptoms were more common than negative symptoms. Treatment for positive symptoms was more successful than that for negative symptoms, with physicians considering treatment inadequate for >70% of patients with negative symptoms.

Keywords

SchizophreniaNegative symptomsPositive symptomsAntipsychoticsPrescribing practicesSurvey data
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 22 , Issue 6 , September 2007 , pp. 371 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2007

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