People with schizophrenia often experience symptoms of hostility. Hostility can be defined as “an underlying negative attitude toward situations and other people,” with symptoms including sarcasm and anger. People with schizophrenia may also experience symptoms of agitation, which are distinct from hostility. Agitation can be defined as “excessive motor or verbal activity,” with symptoms including restlessness and heightened response to stimuli. Both hostility and agitation require active management to prevent their escalation into aggressive behaviors, whether toward the person themself, others, or property.
Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in functioning, and the presence of hostility and agitation is linked to even worse functioning. This may be due to the negative impact of these symptoms on social cognition, as well as the impact of hostile suspicion on interpersonal interactions.. Deficits in functioning are an important treatment target in schizophrenia, including early-phase schizophrenia.
Brexpiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic, significantly improved schizophrenia symptoms (primary end point) and functioning (secondary end point) versus placebo in two phase 3 randomized controlled trials with fixed doses, supported by a third trial with flexible dosing Post hoc analyses of these trials showed that brexpiprazole improved hostility and agitation symptoms versus placebo. Certain other atypical antipsychotics may also improve functioning in schizophrenia; however, effects on functioning have not been studied specifically in participants with hostility and agitation (including for brexpiprazole). The aim of this post hoc pooled analysis was to investigate the effects of brexpiprazole on functioning in adults with schizophrenia with and without hostility and agitation symptoms, over the short term and long term.
Source: J. Clin. Psych
