Table 3.
Comparison of the clinical characteristics of patients grouped by serum aripiprazole levels at the end of follow-upa
| Serum aripiprazole level >120 ng/ml (n = 16) | Serum aripiprazole level <120 ng/ml (n = 15) | Total (n = 31) | p value | Effect sizeb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years (s.d.) | 34.25 (6.34) | 30.87 (8.71) | 32.61 (7.64) | 0.224 | |
| Sex, male (%) | 3 (18.75%) | 9 (60%) | 12 (38.71%) | 0.029a | |
| Employment | 0.694 | ||||
| Full-time | 8 | 10 | 18 | ||
| Part-time | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||
| No | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Onset age (s.d.) | 24.44 (6,21) | 24.20 (6.60) | 24.32 (6.29) | 0.918 | |
| Hx of adm no. (%) | 9 (56.25%) | 2 (13.33%) | 11 (35.48%) | 0.023a | |
| Hx of relapse no. (%) | 12 (75%) | 11 (73.33%) | 23 (74.19%) | 0.916 | |
| Duration of illness (s.d.) | 9.69 (4.42) | 6.67 (5.39) | 8.23 (5.07) | 0.098 | |
| Schizophrenia diagnosis no. (%) | 13 (81.25%) | 9 (60%) | 22 (70.97%) | 0.252 | |
| BL APZ dose mg (s.d.) | 12.90 (4.51) | 7.50 (5.75) | 10.29 (5.75) | 0.007b | |
| BL APZ level mg/dL (s.d.) | 244.13 (89.08) | 79.46 (59.06) | 164.45 (112.22) | <0.001b | |
| BL PANSS total score (s.d.) | 41.75 (7.47) | 42.87 (13.90) | 42.29 (10.88) | 0.781 | |
| BL CGI-S score (s.d.) | 1.94 (0.68) | 1.73 (0.88) | 1.84 (0.78) | 0.475 | |
| BL PSP score (s.d.) | 81.50 (7.28) | 81.80 (9.91) | 81.65 (8.50) | 0.924 | |
| BL EQ-5D-VAS (s.d.) | 71.56 (14.23) | 79.13 (11.76) | 75.23 (13.44) | 0.119 | |
| BL MSQ score (s.d.) | 5.69 (0.79) | 5.47 (0.92) | 5.58 (0.85) | 0.478 | |
| Relapse no. (%) | 4 (25%) | 3 (20%) | 7 (22.58%) | 0.739 | 1.31 |
| F/U APZ dose mg (s.d.) | 10.97 (4.37) | 5.09 (4.29) | 8.12 (5.20) | <0.001b | 32.94% |
| F/U APZ level mg/dL (s.d.) | 202.91 (76.35) | 48.73 (35.69) | 128.31 (98.20) | <0.001b | 63.61% |
| F/U PANSS total score (s.d.) | 40.69 (9.54) | 40.20 (10.66) | 40.45 (9.93) | 0.894 | 0.06% |
| F/U CGI-S score (s.d.) | 1.88 (0.81) | 1.67 (0.82) | 1.77 (0.80) | 0.481 | 1.73% |
| F/U PSP score (s.d.) | 82.06 (8.44) | 85.00 (6.47) | 84.75 (7.16) | 0.288 | 3.88% |
| F/U EQ-5D-VAS (s.d.) | 78.31 (15.82) | 80.93 (11.79) | 79.58 (13.85) | 0.607 | 0.92% |
| F/U MSQ score (s.d.) | 5.81 (0.75) | 5.40 (0.74) | 5.61 (0.76) | 0.134 | 7.59% |
Abbreviations: Adm, admission; APZ, aripiprazole; BL, baseline; CGI-S, Clinical Global Impression-Severity; EQ-5D-VAS, EuroQoL-5D visual analog scale; F/U, 2-year follow-up; Hx, History; MSQ, medication satisfaction questionnaire; PANSS, positive and negative syndrome scale; PSP, personal and social performance; s.d., standard deviation.
Follow-up data were calculated using the Last Observation Carried Forward (LOCF) method. We used the last available data before relapse for patients who experienced relapse.
The effect size for datasets analyzed using ANOVA is represented by Eta-squared (η2), while for datasets analyzed using Fisher's exact test, it is defined by the odds ratio.