From October 2005 to January 2011, a prospective, randomized, open-label study was undertaken. 202 first-episode drug-na?ve patients were randomly assigned to Aripiprazole (N = 78), Ziprasidone (N = 62), or Quetiapine (N = 62) and followed-up for 3 months. The primary effectiveness measure was all-cause of treatment discontinuation. In addition, an analysis based on intention-to-treat populations was conducted in the analysis for clinical efficacy.
The overall dropout rate at 3 months was small (13.86 % ). The treatment discontinuation rate differed significantly between treatment groups (Aripiprazole = 23.1 % , Ziprasidone = 37.1 % and Quetiapine = 61.3 % ) (¦Ö2 = 21.334; p < 0.001). Insufficient efficacy in the group of Quetiapine is the main reason for discontinuation rate differences (¦Ö2 = 20.223; p < 0.001). The mean time to all-cause discontinuation was significantly different between groups (LogRank = 23.467 p < 0.001). Aripiprazole and Quetiapine were associated with a greater depressive symptoms improvement (p = 0.043). The profile of side-effects varies between treatments. Patients on Quetiapine were less likely to be prescribed hypnotics.
Patients treated with Quetiapine had a higher risk of treatment discontinuation in the short-term after a first episode due to insufficient efficacy. Establishing differences between SGAs may help clinicians in prescribing decisions for the treatment of individuals presenting with first-episode schizophrenia.