RISPERIDONE IN THE TREATMENT OF NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA - A METAANALYSIS

Risperidone has antiserotonergic and antidopaminergic properties that may make it more effective than conventional antipsychotic agents in t he treatment of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Clinical trial s in chronic schizophrenic patients have shown trends in favor of risp eridone in the control of negative symptoms compared with haloperidol, perphenazine or zuclopenthixol, but the differences were not consiste ntly statistically significant. A meta-analysis of the pooled results from six double-blind trials showed that risperidone at doses ranging from 4 to 8 mg/day had a significantly (p < 0.004) higher negative sym ptom response rate, defined as the percentage of patients with a 20% o r more reduction in scores on the negative subscale of the Positive an d Negative Syndrome Scale, than patients receiving active controls. Th e combined patient population treated with 4-8 mg/day of risperidone w as 1.43 times more likely to have had a clinical response on the negat ive symptom subscale than the combined population treated with haloper idol, perphenazine or zuclopenthixol.