Abstract
We conducted a prospective double-blind study of accelerated dose titration of olanzapine
in the treatment of newly admitted acutely agitated patients with schizophrenia. Patients
were randomized to either oral olanzapine (10 mg per day) or oral haloperidol (10
mg per day), plus lorazepam as needed (up to 12 mg per day). Antipsychotic dosage
was increased to 20 mg per day as early as day 3. Patients were evaluated with the
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Agitation subscale during the first 24
hours of treatment, daily for the first week, then weekly until study completion.
Significant within-group improvement was demonstrated in PANSS Agitation scores for
both groups as early as 1 hour after initiating therapy (−5.79 ± 6.30 for olanzapine
and −4.89 ± 6.05 for haloperidol, P <.001). This study demonstrated that accelerated dose titration of oral olanzapine
is as efficacious as oral haloperidol in reducing acute agitation in patients with
schizophrenia.
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Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
April 24,
2003
Received:
February 4,
2003
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
