Lessons from each drug trial.

摘要

There were no meaningful differences among the demographic characteristics of the study groups. This suggests that there is information in the responses of these individuals to an antipsychotic and that this information can be helpful in predicting drug responses. Stroup and colleagues consider the possibility that a defining characteristic of the study group in phase IB is their sensitivity to the side effects of perphenazine. For example, among the patients who discontinued perphenazine because of extrapyramidal side effects, five of six also discontinued risperidone. This suggests that patients who experience extrapyramidal symptoms while taking perphenazine may represent a group of individuals with a greater sensitivity to this side effect and that these individuals will experience varying amounts of extrapyramidal symptoms while taking risperidone. Similarly, this group of individuals may do well with quetiapine, an antipsychotic with minimal extrapyramidal side effects. However, there were no differences among the three agents in the scores on rating scales for extrapyramidal side effects, akathisia, or tardive dyskinesia. This inconsistency may tell us something about mild extrapyramidal symptoms and how difficult they can be to detect.