Work disability and depressive disorders: impact on the European population.

Objective: Our aim was to study the impact of depressive disorders on work disability to discover the determinants of depression for work disability in the European countries.

Design: The sample was composed of 31,126 individuals from 29 countries included in the 2002 World Health Survey of the World Health Organization. National representative samples of countries from all regions of Europe and with different levels of economic development and health coverage were selected.

Aripiprazole versus haloperidol in combination with clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia in routine clinical care: a randomized, controlled trial.

This multisite study was conducted to compare the efficacy and tolerability of combination treatment with clozapine plus aripiprazole versus combination treatment with clozapine plus haloperidol in patients with schizophrenia who do not have an optimal response to clozapine. Patients continued to take clozapine and were randomly assigned to receive daily augmentation with aripiprazole or haloperidol. Physicians prescribed the allocated treatments according to usual clinical care.

Rationale and design of an independent randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of aripiprazole or haloperidol in combination with clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Background: One third to two thirds of people with schizophrenia have persistent psychotic symptoms despite clozapine treatment. Under real-world circumstances, the need to provide effective therapeutic interventions to patients who do not have an optimal response to clozapine has been cited as the most common reason for simultaneously prescribing a second antipsychotic drug in combination treatment strategies. In a clinical area where the pressing need of providing therapeutic answers has progressively increased the occurrence of antipsychotic polypharmacy, despite the lack of robust evidence of its efficacy, we sought to implement a pre-planned protocol where two alternative therapeutic answers are systematically provided and evaluated within the context of a pragmatic, multicentre, independent randomised study.

Understanding antipsychotic non-classical prescriptions: a quantitative and qualitative approach.

Aims: To date only a few studies investigated the clinical reasons supporting and explaining non-classical antipsychotic prescriptions. The present study was carried out to develop concepts which help understand this phenomenon in a natural setting, giving emphasis to views of clinicians according to quali - quantitative research methodologies.

Subjects: From the South-Verona Psychiatric Case Register all antipsychotic prescriptions issued during 2005 were extracted.

Is the Defined Daily Dose system a reliable tool for standardizing antipsychotic dosages?

The present study was carried out to establish whether the Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) system could be reliably applied to standardize antipsychotic dosages. Initially, the relationship between antipsychotic doses expressed as DDDs, chlorpromazine equivalents (CPZEs) and percentages of the British National Formulary (BNF) maximum recommended daily dose were investigated by calculating Spearman's rank correlation coefficients. Second, factors associated with antipsychotic dose, expressed as DDDs, CPZEs and percentages of the BNF maximum recommended daily dose, were investigated by means of linear regression analysis.

Benzodiazepine use in the real world of psychiatric practice: low-dose, long-term drug taking and low rates of treatment discontinuation.

Objective: The present study was designed to (1) estimate the frequency of benzodiazepine use in psychiatric practice, (2) investigate factors associated with use, (3) establish whether a relationship exists between benzodiazepine dose and length of use, and (4) investigate factors associated with time to discontinuation.

Methods: This study was conducted in South Verona, Italy. All individuals who were exposed to benzodiazepines during 2005 were extracted from the local Psychiatric Case Register, and the longitudinal history of benzodiazepine exposure was retrospectively described.

Paroxetine versus other anti-depressive agents for depression.

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To determine the efficacy of paroxetine in comparison with other anti-depressive agents in alleviating the acute symptoms of major depressive disorder.To review acceptability of treatment with paroxetine in comparison with other anti-depressive agents.