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The Association Between Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorders and Antipsychotic Treatment Failure in Early-Onset Psychosis: A Historical Cohort Study Using Electronic Health Records.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Downs, Johnny M 
Lechler, Suzannah 
Dean, Harry 
Sears, Nicola 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In a sample of children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis, we investigated whether multiple treatment failure (MTF, defined as the initiation of a third trial of novel antipsychotic due to nonadherence, adverse effects, or insufficient response) was associated with comorbid autism spectrum disorders. METHODS: Data were from the electronic health records of 638 children (51% male) aged from 10 to 17 years with first-episode psychosis (per ICD-10 criteria) from January 1, 2008, to November 1, 2014, referred to mental health services in South London, United Kingdom; data were extracted using the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system. The effect of autism spectrum disorder comorbidity on the development of MTF during a 5-year period was modeled using Cox regression. RESULTS: There were 124 cases of MTF prior to the age of 18 (19.4% of the sample). Comorbid autism spectrum disorders were significantly associated with MTF (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.99; 95% CI, 1.19-3.31; P = .008) after controlling for a range of potential confounders. Other factors significantly associated with MTF included higher age at first presentation (P = .001), black ethnicity (P = .03), and frequency of clinical contact (P < .001). No significant association between other comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders (hyperkinetic disorder or intellectual disability) and MTF was found. CONCLUSIONS: Children with first-episode psychosis and comorbid autism spectrum disorders at first presentation are less likely to have a beneficial response to antipsychotics.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Age of Onset, Antipsychotic Agents, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Proportional Hazards Models, Psychotic Disorders, Retrospective Studies, Treatment Failure

Journal Title

J Clin Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0160-6689
1555-2101

Volume Title

78

Publisher

Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc