PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D A Redmond

Publications and source records attributed to D A Redmond.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Effects of clozapine on psychiatric symptoms, cognition, and functional outcome in schizophrenia.

This study focused on the symptomatic and cognitive effects of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine in chronic hospitalized schizophrenia patients. Further, it explored how these effects might be related to discharge, an important functional outcome. Patients were assessed at baseline and at regular intervals with clinical instruments and a cognitive battery. Clozapine treatment produced symptomatic and cognitive improvements, positive changes that appeared to occur independently of one another. Baseline cognitive performance, as well as cognitive change with treatment, predicted discharge. Further investigation of the effects of clozapine and other atypical antipsychotics on cognition and functional outcome is warranted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Context memory in schizoaffective and schizophrenic disorders.

DSM IV preserves the boundary between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, yet validation of the former condition remains incomplete. The prevalent view that schizoaffective disorder is a less serious condition than schizophrenia suggest that cognitive disturbance might be less severe and possibly different from that found in schizophrenia. We investigated a well-characterized cognitive difficulty in schizophrenia, the relative lack of gain in verbal recall when context is increased, in samples of patients and normal controls. Subjects with schizophrenia (n = 19) were individually matched for age, sex, and recall performance with patients diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (n = 19) and major depression (n = 19); and with normal controls (n = 19). Patients were also matched on duration of illness. The results indicate that schizophrenic subjects attain smaller gains in recall when context is increased compared to depressed and normal controls, a finding consistent with previous results. Schizophrenic and schizoaffective subjects, however, did not differ in recall gain on this task. We conclude that schizoaffective subjects cannot be distinguished from schizophrenic subjects on this cognitive feature.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Clozapine in the back wards.

Most reports of clozapine in treatment-refractory patients have dealt with outpatient and/or relatively less chronic samples. This report focuses on clinical outcome in an institutionalized sample, notable for chronicity, poor functioning, and representing the extreme segment of the treatment-refractory population. We analyzed the data for 50 persistently hospitalized patients referred for clozapine treatment in open trials. Dimensions of outcome assessed at baseline and periodically thereafter included psychopathology, cognitive performance, extrapyramidal side effects (EPS), and patient satisfaction. Certain features of clozapine response in institutionalized patients have been underemphasized (e.g., reduced use of restraint and seclusion, greater social interaction, reduced cost for care). Ninety-four percent of this sample showed some form of improvement with clozapine. Improvement ranged from modest (e.g., less EPS) to remarkable (e.g., discharge). An adequate clozapine trial may require more than 6 months.

Activities of Daily Living↗