Lithium augmentation fails to reduce symptoms in poorly responsive schizophrenic outpatients.

Lithium as an adjunct to fluphenazine decanoate was tested in a placebo-controlled trial in outpatients who were part of the Treatment Strategies of Schizophrenia (TSS) study. 41 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assigned to either adjunctive lithium or placebo after at least 6 mo of fluphenazine decanoate treatment to stabilize symptoms had failed. The trial was designed for 8 wks of treatment, and patients assigned to placebo could afterward be administered lithium in an 8-wk, open-label study. Assessment of the intent-to-treat analysis revealed no significant differences in demographic variables between the lithium and placebo groups. Although both groups showed significant improvement as measured by total scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), there were no significant differences in response between the lithium and placebo groups. Patients originally treated with placebo added to neuroleptic did not have significantly greater improvement when receiving open-label adjunctive lithium. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)