Evidence base for using atypical antipsychotics for psychosis in adolescents

Atypical antipsychotic medications have been the first line of treatment for adolescents with psychosis in the past couple of decades. Till the late 90s, there were very few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the treatment of adolescents with psychosis, although a fifth of schizophrenia starts during adolescence. Most of the treatment guidelines for adolescents with psychosis were derived from data on adults. In the past 10 years, there has been increasing number of studies on adolescents with psychosis. The current paper summarizes the findings of trials on adolescents with psychosis in 4 groups: (a) atypical antipsychotic medications vs placebo, (b) atypical antipsychotic medication vs typical antipsychotic medications, (c) one atypical antipsychotic medication vs another atypical antipsychotic medication, and (d) Low dose vs standard dose of atypical antipsychotic medication. We included 13 RCTs, with a total of 1112 participants. Although our review suggest that atypical antipsychotic medications are as effective as typical antipsychotic medications as regards clinical efficacy, atypical antipsychotic medications have a preferred side effect profile and lesser drop-out rate from trials. Obviously, this is extremely important as treatment adherence is key to successful remission of psychotic symptoms and also in some case prevent relapse of illness. Treatment with olanzapine, risperidone, and clozapine is often associated with weight gain. Aripiprazole is not associated with increased prolactin or with dyslipidemia. Adolescents may respond better to standard-dose as opposed to lower dose risperidone, but for aripiprazole and ziprasidone, lower doses may be equally effective. Future trial should be longer term and have uniform ways of reporting side effects.