The Therapeutic Threshold and the Point of Futility

Jonathan M. Meyer; Stephen M. Stahl

doi:10.1017/9781009002103.005

2 - The Therapeutic Threshold and the Point of Futility

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2021

Jonathan M. Meyer and

Stephen M. Stahl

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Jonathan M. Meyer: Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Stephen M. Stahl: Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside and San Diego

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Summary

Prior to our modern understanding of differences in drug metabolism, it was apparent that a wide range of response to antipsychotic dosages existed, with some schizophrenia patients responding minimally regardless of dose. Whether this variation was due to nonadherence or other biological factors [1, 2], the need to quantify antipsychotic exposure and clinical response spurred interest in development of reliable laboratory assays and improved psychiatric research instruments in the 1960s. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was developed in 1962 to rate major symptom characteristics of acute psychosis, and represented an important advancement over older methods that lacked “efficiency, speed and economy” [3].

Type: Chapter
Information: The Clinical Use of Antipsychotic Plasma Levels
Stahl's Handbooks
, pp. 34 - 59

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009002103.005 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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