Inpharma 1351 - 17 Aug 2002

Ziprasidone superior to haloperidolin schizophrenia

Compared with haloperidol, ziprasidone is aseffective and has a better tolerability profile, in thetreatment of patients with stable chronic schizophrenia,according to a multinational group of researchers.*

The study involved 301 outpatients aged 18–64 yearswith stable chronic or subchronic schizophreniarequiring antipsychotic maintenance treatment. Thepatients were randomised to receive ziprasidone80–160 mg/day (n = 148) or haloperidol 5–15 mg/day,for 28 weeks.

There were no significant between-group differencesin treatment-induced changes in PANSS, BPRSd,MADRS, CGI-S, or QLS scores.** There was also nosignificant difference between the treatment groups inthe proportion of patients in remission (a PANSS scoreof < 60) at the end of treatment. However, there weresignificantly more negative symptom responders in theziprasidone group, compared with the haloperidolgroup (48% vs 33% of patients).†

The rates of completion and discontinuation oftreatment due to lack of efficacy were similar betweenthe two groups. However, the rate of discontinuationdue to treatment-related adverse events was twice ashigh in the haloperidol group, compared with theziprasidone group (16% vs 8%).* Two of the researchers were associated with Pfizer, which providedfunding for the study.** PANSS = Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; BPRSd = BriefPsychiatric Rating Scale derived from the PANSS; MADRS =Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale; CGI-S = Clinical GlobalImpressions-Severity of Illness scale; QLS = Quality of Life Scale† A negative symptom responder was defined as a patient with a ≥ 20%decrease from baseline in the PANSS negative subscale score.

Hirsch SR, et al. A 28-week comparison of ziprasidone and haloperidol inoutpatients with stable schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 63: 516-523,Jun 2002 800913854

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Inpharma 17 Aug 2002 No. 13511173-8324/10/1351-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved