Tolerability, Safety and Efficacy of Flexibly Dosed Paliperidone ER in Patients With Schizophrenia

The PANSS is a 30-item scale designed to assess various symptoms of schizophrenia. The 30 symptoms are rated on a 7-point scale that ranges from 1 (absent) to 7 (extreme psychopathology). The PANSS total score consists of the sum of all 30 PANSS items and ranges from 30 to 210. Higher scores indicate worsening.

The PANSS Positive Subscale assesses seven positive-symptoms of schizophrenia. Positive symptoms refer to an excess or distortion of normal functions. The symptoms are rated on a 7-point scale, with a range of 7 (absent) to 49 (extreme psychopathology).

The PANSS Negative Subscale assesses seven negative-symptoms of schizophrenia. Negative symptoms represent a diminution or loss of normal functions. The symptoms are rated on a 7-point scale, with a range of 7 (absent) to 49 (extreme psychopathology).

The PANSS General Psychopathology Subscale Score assesses 16 general psychopathology symptoms. The symptoms are rated on a 7-point scale, with a range of 16 (absent) to 112 (extreme psychopathology).

The CGI-S rating scale is a 7 point global assessment that measures the clinician's impression of the severity of illness exhibited by a patient. A rating of 1 is equivalent to "Normal, not at all ill" and a rating of 7 is equivalent to "Among the most extremely ill patients". Higher scores indicate worsening.

This PSP assesses the degree of a patient's dysfunction within 4 domains of behavior: socially useful activities, personal and social relationships, self-care, and disturbing and aggressive behavior. The score ranges from 1 to 100, divided into 10 equal intervals to rate the degree of difficulty (i, absent to vi, very severe) in each of the 4 domains. Based on the four domains there will be one total score. Patients with a score of 71 to 100 have a mild degree of difficulty; from 31 to 70, varying degrees of disability; =< 30, functioning so poorly as to require intensive supervision.

The SF-36 is designed to examine a person's perceived health status. The SF-36 includes one multi-item scale measuring eight health concepts: vitality, physical functioning, bodily pain, general health perceptions, physical role-, emotional role-, social role functioning, and mental health. Answers to each question are scored and summed to produce raw scale scores for each health concept which are then transformed to a 0 - 100 scale, a high score defining a more favorable health state. An aggregate summary measure is calculated by averaging the scores from the eight health concepts.

This self-administered scale rates the quality of sleep. Patients will indicate on an 11-point scale how well they have slept in the previous 7 days, from 0 (very badly) to 10 (very well).

This self-administered scale rates the daytime drowsiness. Patients will indicate on an 11-point scale how often they have felt drowsy within the previous 7 days, from 0 (not at all) to 10 (all the time).