Journal article
Improvement of negative symptoms: concepts, definition and assessment
International clinical psychopharmacology, Vol.12 Suppl 2(2), pp.S7-S10
05/1997
DOI: 10.1097/00004850-199705002-00003
PMID: 9218162
Abstract
The development of new medications for the treatment of schizophrenia is closely tied to the concept of the disorder and its characteristic symptoms. In recent years, the symptoms have been divided into two broad categoriespositive and negative. Positive symptoms tend to command clinical attention and to be treatment-responsive, while negative symptoms are more insidious and disabling, but less spectacular. Negative symptoms, which are similar to the core symptoms of schizophrenia defined by Krapaelin and Bleuler, have not received much attention until recently because of concern about reliability. However, rating scales with good reliability are now available for use in clinical and neurobiological studies. Clinical drug trials are also meeting the challenge of documenting the response to carefully rated negative symptoms. In addition, they are exploring the effects of medication on negative symptoms that are primary rather than secondary to reduced extrapyramidal side effects, or of medication that lowers levels of depression or decreases the demoralizing effects of positive symptoms. One ideal strategy for identifying the effects of medication on primary negative symptoms is to study patients with high levels of negative symptoms and low levels of positive symptoms, who are in the early stages of the illness and have been given minimal treatment with classical neuroleptics. Such samples are highly informative, but difficult to collect. Alternatively, when all confounders cannot be eliminated, the effects of medication can be explored using statistical techniques to examine covariance
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Improvement of negative symptoms: concepts, definition and assessment
- Creators
- Nancy Andreasen - Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, I A 52242, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- International clinical psychopharmacology, Vol.12 Suppl 2(2), pp.S7-S10
- Publisher
- Lippincott-Raven Publishers
- DOI
- 10.1097/00004850-199705002-00003
- PMID
- 9218162
- ISSN
- 0268-1315
- eISSN
- 1473-5857
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/1997
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984003465002771
Metrics
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