Abstract: Rationale: Discontinuation of antipsychotic treatment at early phases increases the risk of poor adherence to maintenance drug therapy. Differences among antipsychotics in terms of effectiveness may determine a good adherence to treatment. Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the clinical effectiveness of aripiprazole, ziprasidone and quetiapine in the treatment of first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders at 1 year. Method: From October 2005 to January 2011 a prospective, randomized, open-label study was undertaken. Two hundred two first-episode drug-naïve patients were randomly assigned to aripiprazole (N?=?78), ziprasidone (N?=?62), or quetiapine (N?=?62) and followed up for 1 year. The primary effectiveness measure was all-cause of treatment discontinuation. In addition, an analysis based on intention-to-treat principle was conducted in the analysis for clinical efficacy. Results: The overall dropout rate at 1 year was 13.37 %. The treatment discontinuation rate differed significantly between treatment groups (aripiprazole?=?43.6 %, ziprasidone?=?66.1 % and quetiapine?=?82.3 %) (? 2?=?22.545; p?

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