Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective To observe second generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) in the treatments of first episode schizophrenic patients and to study the changes of QTc intervals and related factors. Methods 157 first-episode schizophrenia patients from Beijing Huilongguan Hospital during June 2013 to October 2015 were admitted in the study, and their QTc interval changes before and after drug treatments were recorded. The correlated factors and their influences on QTc intervals were analyzed. Results There were significant difference among the QTc intervals of patients before treatment, after two-months treatment and three-months treatment. In regarding to QTc intervals in the second month, We found no difference among different SGAs. Among all the possible factors, We only found correlation between the doses of antipsychotic drugs and the prolongation of the QTc intervals （p=0.029）. Conclusions The use of the second generation antipsychotic drugs may lead to prolongation of QTc intervals. The prolongation is dose-related, but not related to the types of antipsychotic drugs, but this result may be affected by the difference in sample size between groups.

Second generation antipsychotic drugs; First episode schizophrenic patients; QTc interval