A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis to Assess the Relative Efficacy of Antipsychotics for the Treatment of Positive and Negative Symptoms in Early-Onset Schizophrenia

摘要

Introduction Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) is a serious debilitating disorder with considerable morbidity and a reduced life expectancy; therefore, early diagnosis and effective treatments are particularly important. Negative symptoms are more prominent in adolescents and children (compared with adults), and are key predictors of worse functional and clinical outcomes in EOS. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relative efficacy of antipsychotics used in the treatment of EOS, with a focus on studies reporting effectiveness using the Positive and Negative Syndrome scale (PANSS), a scale that includes an overall symptom measure, in addition to separate subscales for positive and, importantly, negative symptoms.