Objectives To identify recent prescription patterns, as well as the demographic and clinical correlates of antidepressants (ADs) usage in schizophrenic patients. Methods A total of 297 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia enrolled at Seoul National Hospital in 2013. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to evaluate current psychiatric symptoms. Bivariate comparisons were used to assess the usage of concomitant psychotropics, demographic and clinical characteristics of ADs users compared with non-users. Multivariate analysis of covariance was performed consecutively. Results The rate of ADs usage was 26.3% and the most commonly used ADs were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. ADs users more often took benzodiazepine than ADs non-users (p=0.005), whereas there were no significant demographic and other clinical difference between the two groups. Regarding BPRS, somatic concern (p=0.022), anxiety (p=0.001) and depressive mood (p=0.009) scores were higher, and excitement (p=0.006) and hostility (p=0.04) scores were lower among ADs users compared to non-users, although there was no significant difference in the other scores of BPRS between the two groups. Moreover, among 5 components of BPRS, scores of affective symptoms (p < 0.001) were significantly higher, and scores of activation symptoms (p=0.014) were significantly lower in ADs users compared to non-users. Conclusion This study suggests that the usage of ADs could be related to affective symptoms regardless of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Further studies are required in order to confirm the clinical correlates of ADs usage and the interactions between affective symptoms and psychotic symptoms.
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