Influence of menopause and aging on clinical outcomes in schizophrenia
Aspect
Outcomes
Findings
Epidemiology
Reduced levels of oestrogens on schizophrenia incidence
Second peak of incidence at menopause in women [25, 73]
Psychopathological symptoms
Symptom severity and clinical stability
Menopause correlates with 1) increased severity of psychosis [74] and 2) antipsychotic resistance [74–82]
Physical health
Breast cancer—incidence and mortality
Increased incidence attributed to drug-induced hyperprolactinemia. Increased mortality attributed to low rates of cancer screening and medical neglect [83, 84]
Medical co-morbidity
Osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes attributed to antipsychotics [82]
Declarations
Author contributions
AGR and JC: Conceptualization, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. MVS: Conceptualization, Data curation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Supervision.
Conflicts of interest
AGR has received registrations for congresses or travel funds from Janssen Global Services, Lundbeck, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, and Angelini Pharma, and honoraria for lectures from Lundbeck and Otsuka.
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