0000000000353395
AUTHOR
Eckart Rüther
showing 12 related works from this author
Influencing factors and predictors of early improvement in the acute treatment of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
2011
Abstract Background To examine the influencing factors and predictors of early improvement in schizophrenia patients. Methods 370 patients suffering from a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were examined within a naturalistic multicenter study. Early improvement was defined as a ≥30% PANSS total score reduction within the first two treatment weeks, response as a ≥50% improvement of the PANSS total score from admission to discharge and remission according to the consensus remission criteria. Baseline and course-related variables such as positive, negative and depressive symptoms, side effects, functioning and subjective well-being were examined regarding their explanatory value for early impro…
Response trajectories in "real-world" naturalistically treated schizophrenia patients.
2011
Abstract Background To date, research has identified distinct antipsychotic response trajectories yet focussing on data from randomized-controlled trials (RCTs). Therefore, the heterogeneity of response in “real-world” schizophrenia patients is still unknown. Methods Antipsychotic response was evaluated in 399 patients suffering from a schizophrenia spectrum disorder within a naturalistic multicenter study of the Competence Network on Schizophrenia using latent class regression. Baseline and illness-related variables were compared between the different trajectory classes as well as currently proposed outcome definitions (early improvement, response, remission) using univariate tests. In ord…
Effect of chronic citalopram on serotonin-related and stress-regulated genes in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the rat
2007
Using a model of depression in which chronic social stress induces depressive-like symptoms, we investigated effects of the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram on gene expression in the dorsal raphe nucleus of male rats. Expression of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) protein was found to be upregulated by the stress and normalized by citalopram, while mRNAs for genes TPH 1 and 2 were differentially affected. Citalopram had no effect on serotonin transporter mRNA but reduced serotonin-1A autoreceptor mRNA in stressed animals. The SSRI prevented the stress-induced upregulation of mRNA for CREB binding protein, synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2b and the glial N-myc downstream-re…
Attitude towards adherence in patients with schizophrenia at discharge
2009
Abstract Background Purpose of the present study was to assess the attitude towards adherence at discharge and to verify its predictability using anamnestic and sociodemographic variables, factors influencing clinical treatment as well as the medical treatment applied. Methods Attitude towards adherence was evaluated in 369 inpatients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders within a naturalistic multicenter trial using the Compliance Rating Scale (CRS) by Kemp. Biweekly ratings of the PANSS, UKU and the Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale (SWN-K) were applied. Logistic regression and CART analyses were used to determine significant predictor variables for the attitude towa…
Challenging the understanding of significant improvement and outcome in schizophrenia - the concept of reliable and clinically significant change met…
2015
Significant changes of schizophrenia patients during inpatient treatment were evalutaed and compared to established outcome criteria. The concept of reliable and clinically significant change methods was applied to three hundred and ninety-six patients suffering from a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. First, information on whether or not the change of the patient's condition is sufficient in order to declare that it is beyond a measurement error or random effect (= reliable change) was evaluated and in a second step it was observed if the reliable change was clinically meaningful (= clinically significant change). Different Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS) thre…
Prediction of symptom remission in schizophrenia during inpatient treatment
2007
Standardized consensus criteria for remission in schizophrenia were recently proposed. The present study applied the symptom-severity component of these criteria to a sample of inpatients in order to determine the rates of remission during inpatient treatment and to explore predictors of remission.A total of 288 inpatients from a multi-centre follow-up programme who fulfilled ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia were included in the present analyses. PANSS ratings at admission and at discharge from hospitalization were used to examine remission status. Clinical and sociodemographic variables at admission were tested for their ability to predict remission at discharge.In total, 55% of the sampl…
Dopamine D2 Receptor Occupancy Estimated From Plasma Concentrations of Four Different Antipsychotics and the Subjective Experience of Physical and Me…
2019
Background Impaired subjective well-being in schizophrenia patients treated with antipsychotics has often been linked inter alia to the antidopaminergic effects of medication. Thus, it is important to capture the association between striatal dopamine D2 receptor occupancy (D2-RO) and global subjective well-being. We examined this association using data from our multicenter, randomized, double-blind Neuroleptic Strategy Study (NeSSy). Methods An innovative double randomization process was used for allocation of patients to the specific treatment groups. Plasma drug concentrations were measured after 6 and 24 weeks of treatment to obtain the estimated D2-RO (eD2-RO) relative to literature val…
Defining and predicting functional outcome in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
2009
Abstract Background: To assess criteria and to identify predictive factors for functional outcome. The criteria should cover all domains proposed by the Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group. Method: PANSS ratings were used to evaluate the symptomatic treatment outcome of 262 inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders within a naturalistic multicenter trial. Functional remission was defined as a GAF score > 61 (Global Assessment of Functioning Scale), SOFAS score > 61 (Social and Occupational Functioning Scale) and a SF-36 mental health subscore > 40 (Medical Outcomes Study—Short Form Health Survey). Multivariate logistic regression and CART analyses were used to determine valid cl…
Depression during an acute episode of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder and its impact on treatment response
2008
The aim of the present study was to examine the relevance of depressive symptoms during an acute schizophrenic episode for the prediction of treatment response. Two hundred inpatients who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorders were assessed at hospital admission and after 6 weeks of inpatient treatment using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Depressive symptoms showed positive correlations with both positive and negative symptoms at admission and after 6 weeks, and decreased during 6 weeks of treatment. Pronounced depressive symptoms (HAM-D score> or =16) were found in 28% of the sample a…
Add-on Antidepressants in the Naturalistic Treatment of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder – When, Who, and How?
2017
Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate antidepressant add-on treatment within the acute treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorder patients. Antidepressant add-on was evaluated in 365 patients within a naturalistic multicenter study. Patients with/without antidepressant add-on were compared regarding clinical and treatment-related variables, response and remission, and remission of depressive and negative symptoms. The efficacy of antidepressant add-on treatment was furthermore analyzed applying marginal structure models. Twenty-three percent of the patients received antidepressant add-on for a mean duration of 50.28 (33.42) days. Patients with the diagnosis of a schizoaffective d…
Remission in schizophrenia — What are we measuring? Comparing the consensus remission criteria to a CGI-based definition of remission and to remissio…
2019
Despite being recommended for use in clinical trials, the consensus remission criteria were found to leave patients with persisting symptoms, relevant areas of functional impairment and a decreased sense of wellbeing. Therefore, to evaluate the appropriateness of the schizophrenia consensus criteria, a definition of remission based on the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) was developed and remitter subgroups were compared.239 patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were evaluated regarding their remission status after inpatient treatment. Remission in schizophrenia was defined according to the symptom-severity component of the consensus criteria by Andreasen et al. and a CGI ba…
Quality of life and subjective well-being in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders : Valid predictors of symptomatic response and remiss…
2010
To examine quality of life and subjective well-being as predictors of symptomatic treatment outcome.Biweekly PANSS ratings were performed in 285 inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders within a multicenter trial by the German Research Network on Schizophrenia. Quality of life and subjective well-being were assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study-Short Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36), the Subjective Well-being Under Neuroleptic Treatment Scale (SWN-K) and the Adjective Mood Scale (AMS). Response was defined as an initial 20% PANSS total score reduction and remission according to the consensus criteria. Correlation analysis, logistic regression and CART-analysis were performed.I…