PMID: 2510458Sep 1, 1989Paper

Factors associated with discontinuation of long-term lithium treatment

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
A Nilsson, R Axelsson

Abstract

Sixty-four outpatients with major affective disorder according to DSM-III and on continuous lithium treatment for an average duration of 7.8 years were first investigated in 1980 and then followed for 7 years. The predictive value of patients' attitudes to their lithium, the prognostic influence of psychiatric status, side effects, and anamnestic and laboratory data including lithium parameters were studied. At the end of the 7-year follow-up, 61% of the patients were still on lithium maintenance treatment, 25% had discontinued lithium for clinical reasons, and 14% of the patients had died. Side effects of lithium were the major clinical reason for discontinuing treatment, while attitudes towards medication were of minor importance. Approximately one fourth of the patients who discontinued lithium were differentiated from those who continued treatment by showing a high frequency of the neurologic side effects incoordination, paresthesia, and disturbed sensibility in addition to having more severe tremor. In yet another fourth of those who discontinued for clinical reasons, lithium was stopped by the treating psychiatrist as maximal urine osmolality values were considered to be too low. These patients did not show any signs of c...Continue Reading

References

Jan 1, 1979·Neuropsychobiology·A I GlenN Kreitman
Jan 1, 1988·Journal of Psychiatric Research·M Schou
Jan 1, 1985·The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science·R G McCreadieD P Morrison
Oct 1, 1970·The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science·S B Guze, E Robins
Sep 1, 1982·The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science·R AxelssonC Alling

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jan 1, 1991·European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience·R Axelsson, A Nilsson
Oct 28, 1998·Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology·A BocchettaM Del Zompo
Dec 1, 1990·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·A Nilsson, R Axelsson
Jul 1, 1991·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·A Nilsson, R Axelsson
Mar 1, 2009·Revista de psiquiatrí́a y salud mental·Jorge López-CastromanMaría A Oquendo
Nov 7, 1999·The Psychiatric Clinics of North America·A M Callahan, M S Bauer
Jan 13, 2017·World Journal of Psychiatry·Subho Chakrabarti
May 13, 2020·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Alessio SimonettiGabriele Sani
Mar 2, 2021·International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry·Marinke FlapperRob Kok

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is characterized by manic and/or depressive episodes and associated with uncommon shifts in mood, activity levels, and energy. Discover the latest research this illness here.