Is disorganized schizophrenia a predictor of treatment resistance? Evidence from an observational study

Objective: To investigate whether inpatients with disorganized schizophrenia are more resistant to treatment. Method: Eighty-five inpatients were assessed at admission and at discharge for schizophrenia subtype, symptom severity, and treatment resistance criteria. Results: Disorganized patients were significantly more treatment-resistant than paranoid patients (60%, p = 0.001), and presented worse scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI-S), and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) (p < 0.001). Although the difference was not significant, 80% of treatment-resistant patients with disorganized schizophrenia responded to clozapine. Conclusion: Patients with the disorganized subtype of schizophrenia should benefit from clozapine as a second-line agent.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Schizophrenia ProgramAssociação Paulista para o Desenvolvimento da Medicina (SPDM) Hospital das Clínicas Luzia de Pinho Melo Department of PsychiatryUNIFESP Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical NeurosciencesSão José do Rio Preto Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Medical PsychologyUNIFESP, Schizophrenia ProgramUNIFESP, Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Clinical NeurosciencesSciEL