TY - JOUR
T1 - A Guideline and Checklist for Initiating and Managing Clozapine Treatment in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia
AU - Correll, C. U.
AU - Agid, Ofer
AU - Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto
AU - de Bartolomeis, Andrea
AU - Fagiolini, Andrea
AU - Seppälä, Niko
AU - Howes, Oliver D.
N1 - Funding Information:
Medical writing support for revisions was provided by Richard Vernell, on behalf of Edra S.p.A., and was funded by Viatris.
Funding Information:
This project was supported by an unconditional grant from Viatris to support medical writing provided by EDRA S.p.A.; the sponsor had no role in study design, collection of evidence, interpretation of data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to publish. Open access publication was funded by EDRA S.p.A. with an unconditional grant from Viatris.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) will affect about one in three patients with schizophrenia. Clozapine is the only treatment approved for TRS, and patients should be treated as soon as possible to improve their chances of achieving remission. Despite its effectiveness, concern over side effects, monitoring requirements, and inexperience with prescribing often result in long delays that can expose patients to unnecessary risks and compromise their chances of achieving favorable long-term outcomes. We critically reviewed the literature on clozapine use in TRS, focusing on guidelines, systematic reviews, and algorithms to identify strategies for improving clozapine safety and tolerability. Based on this, we have provided an overview of strategies to support early initiation of clozapine in patients with TRS based on the latest evidence and our clinical experience, and have summarized the key elements in a practical, evidence-based checklist for identifying and managing patients with TRS, with the aim of increasing confidence in prescribing and monitoring clozapine therapy.
AB - Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) will affect about one in three patients with schizophrenia. Clozapine is the only treatment approved for TRS, and patients should be treated as soon as possible to improve their chances of achieving remission. Despite its effectiveness, concern over side effects, monitoring requirements, and inexperience with prescribing often result in long delays that can expose patients to unnecessary risks and compromise their chances of achieving favorable long-term outcomes. We critically reviewed the literature on clozapine use in TRS, focusing on guidelines, systematic reviews, and algorithms to identify strategies for improving clozapine safety and tolerability. Based on this, we have provided an overview of strategies to support early initiation of clozapine in patients with TRS based on the latest evidence and our clinical experience, and have summarized the key elements in a practical, evidence-based checklist for identifying and managing patients with TRS, with the aim of increasing confidence in prescribing and monitoring clozapine therapy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132819955&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40263-022-00932-2
DO - 10.1007/s40263-022-00932-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132819955
SN - 1172-7047
VL - 36
SP - 659
EP - 679
JO - CNS Drugs
JF - CNS Drugs
IS - 7
ER -
