Negative symptoms refer to the weakening or lack of normal thoughts, emotions or behaviour in schizophrenia patients. Their prevalence in first-episode psychosis is high, 50-90%, and 20-40% of schizophrenia patients have persisting negative symptoms. Severe negative symptoms during the early stages of treatment predict poor prognosis. The aim of the study was to review the current literature on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. In June 2007, the following databases were searched: Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline (Ovid) and Scopus. The search included articles written in English and no time limit was determined. The studies were manually screened by one of the authors according to the title and abstract. About one in three schizophrenia patients suffer from significant negative symptoms. In these patients, negative symptoms constitute a key element of overall symptoms, weakening their ability to cope with everyday activities, affecting their quality of life and their ability to manage without significant outside help. About one in three schizophrenia patients suffer from significant negative symptoms. Attention should be focused on negative symptoms during the early phase of treatment, because they cause significant impairment to patients' quality of life. So far, no treatment appears to substantially improve negative symptoms narrowly defined. However, according to clinical experience, when treating negative symptoms, the best effect is achieved by optimizing the dose of medication and by complementing it with psychosocial therapies.

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Objectives: The first objective was to determine the long-term retention rate of eight antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) commonly used as adjunctive therapy in adults with focal refractory epilepsy. Secondly, we assessed the effects of age and gender on retention rates. Thirdly, we examined if the retention rate could be influenced by the sequence in which the AEDs had entered the market. Materials and methods: Patients with focal refractory epilepsy treated with any of the eight AEDs in Tampere UniversityHospital were identified retrospectively (N=507). Retention rates were evaluated with the Kaplan-Meier method. Followup started at the first date of treatment and each individual was followed a maximum of 36 months. Results:We calculated the following three-year retention rates; lacosamide, 77.1% (N=137); lamotrigine, 68.3% (N=177); levetiracetam 66.7% (N=319), clobazam, 65.6% (N=130); topiramate, 61.6% (N=178); zonisamide, 60.4% (N=103); pregabalin, 54.6% (N=127); gabapentin, 40.2% (N=66). Lacosamide, levetiracetam and clobazam were the most effective AEDs in the elderly. The retention rate for pregabalin was higher in males (65%) than females (51%) whereas females had higher retention rates for both topiramate (72% vs. 58%) and zonisamide (67% vs. 57%). The retention rate was influenced by the sequence in which these AEDs entered the market. Conclusion:We provide important information about practical aspects of these eight AEDs, revealing that there are differences in their effectiveness as adjunctive treatment for focal refractory epilepsy. Most importantly, the retention rate appears to be influenced by the sequence in which these AEDs were introduced onto the market.