Aripiprazole augmentation in highly treatment-resistant obsessive–compulsive disorder – experience from a specialty clinic in India

AbstractObjective: To study the effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole augmentation in patients with highly treatment-resistant obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in a real-world scenario.Methods: We conducted a chart review of patients who were initiated on aripiprazole augmentation at a specialty OCD clinic in India between 2004 and 2014. Primary outcome measure was all-cause discontinuation.Results: 23 patients were eligible for analysis. Patients had not achieved symptom remission despite a mean of over 3 prior SRI trials. Aripiprazole was continued to be used in seven patients (30%) at the time of last follow-up. Thirteen patients (57%) discontinued the drug due to side effects, and three patients (13%) discontinued aripiprazole citing no improvement. Six patients (26%) were noted to have ≥25% reduction on the Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale.Conclusions: The study demonstrated, in a real-world setting, that aripiprazole may be a useful augmenting agent in a proportion of patients with ...