Vortioxetine as an Adjunctive Treatment in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review of Effects on Quality of Life, Anhedonia, Cognitive Function, and Symptom Domains
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Introduction Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by disturbances in perception, thinking, affect, behavior, and negative symptoms. Depression in patients with schizophrenia worsens disease outcomes by increasing suicide risk, complicating the clinical picture, and reducing social functioning quality. Treatment is challenging, as monotherapy with modern antipsychotics is not always successful. Adding antidepressants may improve outcomes, but the effectiveness of such augmentation often requires further evidence. Objectives This study aimed to examine the effects of combining second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) with vortioxetine, a novel multimodal serotonergic antidepressant, on various aspects, including quality of life, anhedonia, cognitive function, and overall symptom improvement in schizophrenia patients. Methods We conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science databases up to September 2024 for studies using Vortioxetine with standard treatments for schizophrenia. Results We screened 371 studies and our review included six studies gathering 508 patients. Study type, sample sizes, and follow-up time varied across studies (Figure 1). All studies involved adding Vortioxetine to existing antipsychotic treatments, with dosages ranging from 5-20 mg/day. Study durations varied from eight to 48 weeks. Common scales across multiple studies included: PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment), CDSS (Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia), and various cognitive function tests (e.g., WCST, Verbal Fluency Test, Stroop Task). Overall, the studies reported positive effects of vortioxetine in schizophrenia patients (Figure 2): Improved quality of life, Reduced anhedonia, Enhanced cognitive function, Improved depressive symptoms, Reduced negative symptoms. Most studies reported good tolerability of vortioxetine with minimal side effects. Image 1: Image 2: Conclusions The findings suggest that Vortioxetine may be a promising adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia, potentially improving various domains including quality of life, cognitive function, negative symptoms, and depressive symptoms. However, larger and more robust studies are needed to confirm these findings. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.011 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.008 | 0.006 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.006 | 0.007 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".