Movement disorder profile and treatment outcomes in a one-year study of patients with schizophrenia

Lei Chen, Haya Ascher-Svanum, Anthony Lawson, Virginia L Stauffer, Allen Nyhuis, Virginia Haynes, Kory Schuh, Bruce J Kinon

Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA

Background: This study identified subgroups of patients with schizophrenia who differed on their movement disorder profile and compared their treatment outcomes.
Methods: Data from a randomized, open-label, one-year study of patients with schizophrenia who were treated with antipsychotics in usual clinical care settings were analyzed (n = 640). Five measures of movement disorder were incorporated into a single Movement Disorder Index (MDI). Subgroups that differed in their movement disorder profile over the one-year study period were compared on clinical and functional outcomes.
Results: Three subgroups were identified: a worsening of MDI in 15% of patients, an improvement in 33%, and no change in 53%. Compared with the other two subgroups, the MDI-worsened subgroup had poorer symptom improvement measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score (mean changes of −11.0, −18.4, and −16.8 for the patients who had a worsening of MDI, no change, and an improvement, respectively), poorer symptom improvement on the PANSS positive and anxiety/depression subscale scores, worsening on the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical component summary score, and a higher rate of hospitalization (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Patients with schizophrenia who experience worsening of their MDI score appear to have poorer clinical and functional outcomes, suggesting that such worsening may be a marker of poorer prognosis.

Keywords: schizophrenia, treatment outcome, movement disorder