Psychiatria pre prax 2/2023

Cariprazine in treatment of early and late stages of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that leads to a shortening of life expectancy and significantly affects its quality as well. Efforts to divide schizophrenia into stages, which would help with targeted and effective therapy in individual stages, appeared as early as the 1990s. The most recent attempt in staging by Fountoulakis and the collective divides schizophrenia into four stages according to the dominant symptoms based on the PANSS scale (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale). The mentioned staging is also helpful for selecting optimal treatment in individual stages of schizophrenia. In addition to the dominant symptoms, stages of schizophrenia also have other therapeutic specifics. While in the early stages it is necessary to emphasize adherence, reduction of abuse of psychoactive substances and early functional recovery, in the later stages safety and reduction of the burden on caregivers are key targets. The mentioned article provides information on the use of cariprazine in the individual stages of schizophrenia, with an emphasis on influencing the dominant symptoms and in terms of other specific goals of therapy.

Keywords: stages of schizophrenia, rational pharmacotherapy, negative symptoms, functional recovery, cariprazine