CLINICAL PREDICTORS OF ACUTE RESPONSE WITH OLANZAPINE IN PSYCHOTIC MOOD DISORDERS

Background: In controlled studies of patients with schizophrenia, the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine has been shown to be more effective in the treatment of positive and negative symptoms compared with halop eridol at doses of 10 mg/day. However, little is known about the effic acy of olanzapine in patients with psychotic mood disorders. The purpo se of this study was to assess the efficacy of olanzapine in the treat ment of these psychotic mood disorders in comparison with nonaffective psychotic disorders and to identify clinical factors associated with olanzapine response. Method: In a naturalistic setting, by reviewing m edical records, we assessed response to olanzapine and factors associa ted with response to olanzapine in 150 consecutive patients newly trea ted with the drug at a nonprofit academic psychiatric hospital. Result s: Patients displaying a moderate-to-marked response to olanzapine wer e more likely to be younger; be female; receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder; and have a shorter duration of illness, shorter length of s tay prior to olanzapine, and longer duration of trial. Conclusion: Ola nzapine may be a useful alternative or adjunctive treatment for patien ts with bipolar disorder.