Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 27 No. 4, 2015.
Original scientific paper
TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AS MEASURED BY THE ASSESS BATTERY - FIRST LONGITUDINAL DATA
Maria Ladea
; ”Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Hospital of Psychiatry, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Cristina M. Barbu
; ”Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” Clinical Hospital of Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania
Georg Juckel
; Department of Psychiatry, LWL-University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
Abstract
Background: Effective pharmacological treatment with a favorable side-effect profile increases treatment adherence and is
therefore very important for patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatrists need easy to use and reliable assessments instruments to
evaluate treatment effectiveness in their patients.
Subjects and methods: A group of European leading psychiatrists have proposed a framework for the assessment of treatment
effectiveness in patients with schizophrenia - the ASSESS battery (The ASseSsment of EffectivenesS in Schizophrenia Battery) which
evaluates the effectiveness of treatment during both the remission and the relapse periods. ASSESS includes: 10 items of Positive and
Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), Medication Satisfaction Questionnaire
(MSQ), and Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP). The battery assesses five domains: symptomatic remission and retention
of treatment, affective symptoms, cognitive functioning, treatment satisfaction and personal and social functioning. The aim of the
present study was to evaluate the applicability of ASSESS in real world practice.
Results: The variations of the PANSS items rated during the study indicate a significant improvement of psychopathology. A
similar improvement was observed in cognition, social functioning and treatment satisfaction as shown by BACS, PSP and MSQ
scales. Cognitive impairment, personal and social functioning, and treatment satisfaction were correlated with the remission or
augmentation of positive symptoms.
Conclusions: This pilot study revealed that ASSESS is easy to apply in clinical practice and is a suitable tool for psychiatrists
since it covers all the relevant aspects of the course of schizophrenia in a compact form.
Keywords
ASSESS battery – schizophrenia - assessment
Hrčak ID:
162535
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2015.
Visits: 926 *