A multicenter, single-arm, open-label interventional study of adherence to brexpiprazole during switching from previous antipsychotic drugs in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

The rate of medication persistence was examined in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder during switching from previously administered antipsychotics to brexpiprazole, a new dopamine D receptor partial agonist. A multicenter, single-arm, open-label 24-week interventional study was conducted, consisting of two 12-week consecutive periods: an initial switch (by plateau cross-titration) with the subsequent period, followed by a second maintenance period. Prior antipsychotics were olanzapine or risperidone/paliperidone.

Live two-way video versus face-to-face treatment for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A 24-week randomized controlled trial.

Aim: Live two-way video, easily accessible from home via smartphones and other devices, is becoming a new way of providing psychiatric treatment. However, lack of evidence for real-world clinical setting effectiveness hampers its approval by medical insurance in some countries. Here, we conducted the first large-scale pragmatic, randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness of long-term treatment for multiple psychiatric disorders via two-way video using smartphones and other devices, which are currently the primary means of telecommunication.

Costs of psychotropics for outpatients with bipolar disorder in Japan; the MUSUBI 2016 survey.

Background: Although the costs of bipolar disorder (BD) treatments are associated with local and universal factors, data from non-Western countries remain limited. The associations between clinical features and costs of outpatient pharmacotherapy have not been well characterize. To estimate the costs of outpatient BD treatments and their associations with clinical features in a Japanese population, we investigated with special reference to the costs of medicines constituted the bulk of the total healthcare expense and were steadily increasing.

Japanese Project for Telepsychiatry Evaluation during COVID-19: Treatment Comparison Trial (J-PROTECT): Rationale, design, and methodology.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of people around the world. Anxiety related to infection, stress and stigma caused by the forced changes in daily life have reportedly increased the incidence and symptoms of depression, anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Under such circumstances, telepsychiatry is gaining importance and attracting a great deal of attention.

The Use of the Japanese Public Financial Support Has Positive Impact on Persistence with Outpatient Treatments for Schizophrenia: Single-center Retrospective Cohort Study in Japan.

Purpose: One of the challenges of treating schizophrenia is how to improve persistence with outpatient treatments. Lengthening community life by improving persistence and preventing relapse and rehospitalization can have positive influence on the patients' personal recovery and well-being. In Japan, there is "Medical Expenses for Services and Supports for Persons with Disabilities" ("Jiritsu-shien-iryo-hi" in Japanese) which is the public financial support system for psychiatric outpatient treatments.

Estimated model of psychotropic polypharmacy for bipolar disorder: Analysis using patients' and practitioners' parameters in the MUSUBI study.

Objective: This study aims to clarify the relevant factors influencing practitioners' methods of prescribing medications for bipolar disorder, in a nation-wide survey in Japan.

Methods: The clinical records of 3130 outpatients with bipolar disorder were consecutively reviewed from 176 psychiatric outpatient clinics. Fifteen parameters, that is, five patients' including five general characteristics (sex, age, education, occupation, and social adjustment), five patients' aspects of mental functioning (onset age, comorbid mental illness, rapid-cycling, psychopathologic severity, and followed-up years), and five practitioners' characteristics (sex, age, specialist experience, clinic standing years, and location), were evaluated.

Factors influencing nursing home placement of patients with dementia: a retrospective, single-centre study in Japan.

Aim: This was an exploratory study to examine the factors influencing nursing home placement (NHP) in Japan.

Methods: For this analysis, 633 patients were selected. The data were collected from the clinical records of each patient.

An observational study of duloxetine versus SSRI monotherapy in Japanese patients with major depressive disorder: subgroup analyses of treatment effectiveness for pain, depressive symptoms, and quality of life.

Objective: To examine how clinical and demographic patient baseline characteristics influence effectiveness of duloxetine versus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, in real-world Japanese clinical settings of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and associated painful physical symptoms (PPS).

Methods: This was a multicenter, 12-week, prospective, observational study in patients with MDD (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology ≥16) and at least moderate PPS (Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form [BPI-SF] average pain ≥3). Patients received duloxetine or SSRIs (escitalopram, sertraline, paroxetine, or fluvoxamine).

An observational study of duloxetine versus SSRI monotherapy for the treatment of painful physical symptoms in Japanese patients with major depressive disorder: primary analysis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of duloxetine monotherapy, in comparison with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) monotherapy, in the treatment of painful physical symptoms (PPS) in Japanese patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in real-world clinical settings.

Methods: This was a multicenter, 12-week prospective, observational study. This study enrolled MDD patients with at least moderate PPS, defined as a Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) average pain score (item 5) ≥3.

Comparative study of treatment continuation using second-generation antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Background: Effectiveness of a drug is a key concept dependent on efficacy, safety, and tolerability. Time to discontinuation of treatment is also representative of effectiveness. We investigated differences in treatment discontinuation among newly started second-generation antipsychotics in the clinical setting.