Several cases of abrupt psychotic worsening have been reported in patients who began taking aripiprazole after being treated with other antipsychotic drugs. A recent population-based cohort study involving 1643 patients was conducted from January 2005 to March 2015, to examine whether switching to or adding aripiprazole is associated with serious psychiatric treatment failure compared with switching/adding another antipsychotic drug in patients previously exposed to antipsychotic medications. First-time use of aripiprazole was not associated with an increased rate of psychiatric treatment failure (HR, 0.87; 95%CI, 0.71-1.06), psychiatric hospitalizations (HR, 0.85; 95%CI, 0.69-1.06), or self-harm or suicide (HR, 0.96; 95%CI, 0.68-1.36) compared with use of another antipsychotic drug. Results suggest that starting aripiprazole use, compared with other antipsychotic medication, after previous antipsychotic exposure was not associated with psychiatric hospitalization, self-harm, or suicide. Future research is needed.
Reference:
Montastruc F et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019; Epub ahead of print. Abstract
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