Risperidone versus haloperidol in the treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic inpatients with schizophrenia: a randomized double-blind study

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of risperi done and haloperidol in treatment-resistant chronic schizophrenic patients. Subjects (n = 78) who met DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia were randomly assigned to receive 6 mg/day of risperidone or 20 mg/day of haloperidol fo r 12 weeks. Clinical efficacy was determined using the Positive and Negativ e Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and side-effects with the Treatment Emergent Symp tom Scale (TESS). Risperidone produced a mean 39.8 +/- 24.1% reduction in t otal PANSS score compared to a mean 28.3 +/- 19.4% reduction in the haloper idol group (P < 0.05). Analysis of changes for the three subscores of the P ANSS revealed that the general psychopathology and negative subscores were significantly improved in the risperidone group compared to the haloperidol group. As for the side-effects, the risperidone group showed a significant ly lower TESS total score, as well as nervous system symptoms subscore and cardiovascular symptoms subscore, compared to the haloperidol group. Risper idone appears to be a more effective and better tolerated antipsychotic dru g in treatment-refractory Chinese schizophrenia than haloperidol. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.