Patient satisfaction and acceptability of long-term treatment with quetiapine.

Satisfaction with, and subjective tolerability of, antipsychotic medication have emerged as important factors in determining treatment compliance and eventual outcome in the management of psychotic disorders. The acceptability of long-term treatment with quetiapine, an atypical antipsychotic agent with a lower incidence of extrapyramidal effects than standard therapy, was examined in this open-label, multicentre study of patient satisfaction. One hundred and twenty-nine patients with major psychiatric disorders, who had each been receiving quetiapine for at least 6 months in open-label extension studies, were asked to complete a 7-item questionnaire concerning subjective experience and satisfaction with treatment. Over 75% of respondents indicated that they were either "very" or "extremely" satisfied with their antipsychotic medication while 73.7% indicated that, over the last month, they regarded their antipsychotic medication to have been "very" or "extremely" helpful. Subjectively reported side-effects were uncommon, with 74.4% of patients reporting no side-effects, 23.3% mild side-effects and only 2.3% moderate side-effects. There were no unambiguous reports of extrapyramidal symptoms. An overwhelming majority of patients (114/118; 96.6%) reported that they preferred quetiapine to previous antipsychotic medications, the predominant reasons being their perceptions of better tolerability and greater efficacy. Patients also identified improvements in quality of life and their activities of daily living. These positive evaluations appeared to be reflected in the high proportion of respondents who indicated a readiness to continue quetiapine treatment. This study indicates that the combination of efficacy and a favourable tolerability profile shown by quetiapine may result in benefits that are evident to the patient and may be reflected in high levels of patient satisfaction and acceptance of treatment. By improving compliance with treatment, these benefits may also enhance clinical outcome.