40, 95% CI: 0.19–0.82; Bull et al. 2002). Therefore, increasing frequency of the follow-ups with focus to manage expectation on side effects and de-stigmatization over depression should be explored as a way to improve the noncontinuous use. These highlighted the importance of the need for systematic psychoeducation on the depressive illness and reinforcement

of patients’ drug adherence as suggested in another local study conducted in patients with mood disorders Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (Lee et al. 1992). Limitations While this study evaluated both the prescription record and also the electronic and written medical records of patients, limitations related to retrospective data retrieval still apply when interpreting our findings. The use of retrospective data retrieved from the prescription database and

medical records may have underestimated the rate of noncontinuous use. As the data relied on patient reporting and prescription Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical PP242 in vitro filling, it does not reflect the actual drug use of the patients. The sample size was relatively modest compared to previous studies using only claims database as source of data. However, the difference in relapse rate between the continuous and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical noncontinuous users was highly significant. Therefore, it is unlikely that our modest sample size critically affected our results and conclusions, although it is possible that not all relevant predictors for noncontinuous use were identified. Meanwhile, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the exclusion of comorbid diagnosis or a past history of suicide may have potentially excluded a group of most severe depressive patients. Some studies have previously suggested an impact of concurrent use of benzodiazepine on the continuity of antidepressants, but this Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is beyond the scope of this study (Morgan et al. 2011). Finally, the unavailability of standardized, quantitative measurement for defining disease severity, relapses or remission was also one of the limitations in this study. Noncontinuous antidepressant

use is an important predictor of relapse and recurrence with significant implication for long-term prognosis. The results found in this Chinese population highlighted the high early recurrence second rate. Collaborative multidisciplinary approach utilizing various health care professionals to provide systematic psychoeducation on depressive illness and drug aspects should be explored. Acknowledgments None. Conflict of interest None declared.
Dopamine (DA) dysfunction is implicated in the modulation of pain perception and analgesia (Chudler and Dong 1995; Wasner and Deuschl 2012) and DA depletion plays a central role in this modulation. Indeed, hyposensitivity to pain is common in patients with schizophrenia, which is linked to excessive DA neurotransmission.