AIM: The National Institute of Mental Health recommends that research is carried out in real-world setting and that research findings are translated into routine clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of acute antipsychotic treatment on psychotic symptoms in an inpatient sample.
METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients suffering from acute psychosis and treated with haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine or quetiapine, were evaluated using the SCID I and II, SANS, SAPS, BPRS, and CGI 1, at baseline and the DOTES, SANS, SAPS, BPRS, and CGI 2-3 at discharge, in usual clinical practice. EKG and blood tests were also performed at baseline.
RESULTS: All antipsychotics proved to be effective in treating acute psychosis with no significant differences but haloperidol treatment provided a greater reduction of delusions compared with the other drugs at the lowest cost.
CONCUSION: The similar effectiveness of the four antipsychotics in the acute phase may allow the use of the different antipsychotics according to the therapeutic project relevant to each patient and to symptom clusters that characterize the subtype of psychosis. Haloperidol seems to be superior to the other drugs in reducing delusions in the acute phase of psychosis.
