Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs for 24-Month Maintenance Treatment in First-Episode Schizophrenia: Evidence From a Community-Based "Real-World" Study.

Objective: Maintenance treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic medications has become a standard for the prevention of psychotic relapse. However, little is known about the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs for maintenance treatment in "real-world" populations with schizophrenia. We carried out a prospective study to assess the effectiveness of the most frequently prescribed antipsychotic drugs in the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia from 2 community settings.