Comparing tolerability profile of quetiapine, risperidone, aripiprazole and ziprasidone in schizophrenia and affective disorders: a meta-analysis

Objective: Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are extensively prescribed for psychiatric disorders. Based on clinical observations, schizophrenia (SCZ) and affective disorder (AD) patients can experience different SGA side effects. The expanded use of SGAs in psychiatry suggests a need to investigate whether there is a difference in the incidence and severity of side effects related to diagnosis. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies reporting side effects of four common prescribed SGAs (aripiprazole, quetiapine, risperidone and ziprasidone) in the treatment of SCZ or AD. Randomized controlled trials were included in this study if they administered oral SGAs as a monotherapy, in adult patients. The metabolic and extrapyramidal side effects were collected separately for each group, and then were combined in a meta-analysis. Results: 80 studies were included in the analysis (N = 14,319). Quetiapine treatment induced significantly higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total blood cholesterol mean change in the SCZ group, relative to the AD group. Based on the results, the incidence of extrapyramidal side effects was more frequent in the AD group. Aripiprazole treatment led to significantly more akathisia incidence in the AD group, compared with the SCZ group. Conclusion: The results suggest that SCZ patients may be more vulnerable to some SGA-induced metabolic disturbances, in which lifestyle risk factors and possible inherent genetic vulnerabilities may play a role. Most of the studied SGAs caused more movement disorders in AD patients than SCZ. It might be that an antipsychotic induces severity of side effect according to the phenotype.