Menu
Back to Journals » Patient Preference and Adherence » Volume 1
Effectiveness and medication acceptance of olanzapine disintegrating tablets compared to standard olanzapine tablets in acutely treated psychiatric patients
Authors Czekalla J, Wagner T, Schacht A, Kluge M, Kinon B
Published 20 December 2007 Volume 2007:1 Pages 19—27
Jörg Czekalla1, Thomas Wagner2, Alexander Schacht2, Michael Kluge3, Bruce Kinon4
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Germany; 2Medical Department, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Bad Homburg, Germany; 3Max Planck Institute for Clinical Psychiatry, Munich, Germany; 4Lilly Research Laboratories, Indianapolis, USA
Background: This study compared effectiveness and acceptance of orally disintegrating olanzapine tablets (ODT) with standard-coated tablets (SOT) in acutely ill psychiatric patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals for emergency treatment.
Methods: Large, prospective, observational study at hospital emergency units across Germany in patients with a diagnosis or tentative diagnosis of acute schizophrenia treated with ODT or SOT. Clinical (CGI-S and CGI-I) outcomes, attitudes towards medication (Nursing Assessment of Medication Acceptance, NAMA) scale, suicidal ideation, and adverse events were assessed at start of treatment and after 2 weeks.
Results: Both olanzapine formulations, ODT (N = 247) and SOT (N = 207), showed similar effectiveness after 2 weeks. CGI-I improved in 92.1% of patients (ODT: 91.8%, SOT: 92.3%). In patients receiving both formulations suicidal ideations were reduced (ODT from 53.9% to 20.6%, SOT from 51.2% to 22.7%). ODT was preferably given to severely ill (SOT: 49.8%, ODT: 64.4%) and aggressive patients. Adverse events were reported for 6.5% of ODT- and 2.9% of SOT-patients. This difference was possibly caused by the characteristics of patients receiving ODT.
Conclusions: This non-randomized, observational study shows comparable outcomes and tolerability in patients treated with both olanzapine formulations. In an acute treatment setting, orally disintegrating tablets were preferably used for more severely ill and aggressive patients with low medication acceptance.
Keywords: olanzapine, acute treatment, schizophrenia, observational study
© 2007 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.
By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.