Please note, this slide builds.
Key message: When choosing a treatment, physicians prioritise efficacy for positive and negative symptoms over tolerability.
Background
- In a large, multinational, cross-sectional survey, psychiatrists in the US and five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) who had prescribed antipsychotics for ≥15 patients with schizophrenia within the preceding 3 months, provided data on their patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics, on their antipsychotic prescribing practices, and on drug attributes influencing treatment choice.[Lecrubier et al., 2007]
- Data were collected from 872 physicians on 6,523 patients (85% European, 15% US). Most patients were aged 25–44 years, 63% were men and 66% were outpatients.[Lecrubier et al., 2007]
- As shown on the slide, efficacy for positive symptoms, efficacy for negative symptoms, and tolerability were the top three leading reasons for physicians when choosing a particular antipsychotic medication.[Lecrubier et al., 2007]
- Control of positive and negative symptoms was considered to be the leading unmet need of current antipsychotic treatment.[Lecrubier et al., 2007]
Note: the data in this slide are from a paper published in 2007.[Lecrubier et al., 2007] Around this time, expectations for drugs treating negative symptoms were high.[Stahl, 2006]
References:
Lecrubier Y, Perry R, Milligan G. Physician observations and perceptions of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia: a multinational, cross-sectional survey. Eur Psychiatry 2007; 22 (6): 371–379.
Stahl SM. Positive findings for negative symptoms of schizophrenia: no longer untreatable? Acta Psychiatr Scand 2006; 114 (5): 301–302.