Subjective assessment of brexpiprazole in patients with schizophrenia: a prospective observational study

• Published in: Fujita Medical Journal Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 231 - 235
• Main Authors: Yokoi, Rina, Hatano, Masakazu, Kamei, Hiroyuki, Morita, Aoi, Hanya, Manako, Iwata, Nakao, Yamada, Shigeki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Fujita Medical Society 2023
• Subjects: Antipsychotic agents; Brexpiprazole; Drug attitude; Original; Schizophrenia; Subjective well-being; Subjective well-being; Brexpiprazole; Schizophrenia; Antipsychotic agents; Drug attitude
• ISSN: 2189-7247; 2189-7255
• DOI: 10.20407/fmj.2022-031

Objectives: To investigate the subjective assessments of an antipsychotic treatment with brexpiprazole.Methods: This was a 14-week prospective observational study. Nineteen patients participated in the study between February 2019 and January 2020.Results: Patients had a mean age of 40.6±14.2 years and a Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S) score of 4.6±1.2 at the initiation of brexpiprazole treatment. The Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptic drug treatment Short form, Japanese version (SWNS-J) total score significantly improved from 68.1±22.3 in week 2 to 79.5±21.0 in week 14 (p=0.0084). The SWNS-J subscales of self-control and social integration status also significantly improved from 14.0±4.7 and 13.9±6.0 in week 2 to 17.0±4.7 and 16.0±5.1 in week 14, respectively (p=0.0053 and 0.012, respectively). No significant improvements were observed in any other SWNS-J subscales or the Drug Attitude Inventory-10 (DAI-10) in the 14-week observation period. Moreover, the SWNS-J total score did not correlate with the DAI-10 (r=0.31, p=0.19), or CGI-S (r=–0.18, p=0.47) scores.Conclusions: The present results suggest that brexpiprazole might improve subjective well-being, although this may not necessarily reflect psychopathological improvements. To enhance medication adherence, it is important to perform subjective assessments on patients over time.