Long-Acting Aripiprazole Effective for Schizophrenia

the Psychiatry Advisor take:

A medication commonly used in the treatment of schizophrenia is efficacious and well-tolerated as a treatment taken once per month via injection.

John M. Kane, MD, executive vice president for Behavioral Health Services at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, New York, and colleagues conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study over 12 weeks of aripiprazole once-monthly (Abilify Maintena) in 340 patients. Kane is also a member of Psychiatry Advisor’s editorial board.

The primary outcome was change from baseline to endpoint (week 10) in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score.

Least squares (LS) mean change from baseline to endpoint (week 10) favored aripiprazole once-monthly versus placebo in PANSS total (treatment difference, −15.1 [95% CI, −19.4 to −10.8]; P < .0001), as it did at all other timepoints through 12 weeks (all P ≤ .0005), the researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

In an opinion published last month by Psychiatry Advisor, Kane wrote that long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) benefit patients in terms of improved patient medication adherence and a potential decline in relapses. “The use of LAIs also reduces the frequent confusion and uncertainty between poor/partial response and poor/partial adherence, making treatment decisions easier and more evidence-based.”

The latest study was sponsored by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc., the manufacturer of aripiprazole once-monthly.