Treatment for amphetamine psychosis

During the phase of chronic, high-dose consumption of amphetamines, many amphetamine users may have the experience of paranoia and hallucination. It has long been believed that dopamine antagonists, such as chlorpromazine, haloperidol, and thioridazine, are effective for the treatment of amphetamine psychosis.

To search and determine risks, benefits, and costs of a variety treatments for amphetamine psychosis.

Electronic searches of MEDLINE (1966-2000), EMBASE (1980-2000), CINAHL (1982- January 2001) and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Cochrane Library 2000 issue 4) were undertaken. References to the articles obtained by any means were searched.

All relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical trials (CCTs) were included. Participants were people with amphetamine psychosis, diagnosed by any set of criteria. Any kinds of biological and psychological treatments both alone and combined were examined. A variety of outcomes, for example, number of treatment responders, score changes, were considered.

Two reviewers evaluated and extracted the data independently. The dichotomous data were extracted on an intention-to-treat basis in which the dropouts were assigned as participants with the worst outcomes. The Relative Risk (RR) with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was used to assess the dichotomous data. The Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) with 95% CI was used to assess the continuous data.

The comprehensive searches found no controlled trials of treatment for amphetamine psychosis meeting the criteria for considering studies.

The evidence about the treatment for amphetamine psychosis is very limited. To our knowledge, no controlled trials of treatment for amphetamine psychosis have been carried out. The results of two studies in amphetamine users show that agitation and some psychotic symptoms may be abated within an hour after antipsychotic injection. Whether this limited evidence can be applied for amphetamine psychotic patients is not yet known. The risks and benefits of giving an antipsychotic injection should be further investigated in amphetamine psychotic patients. Medications that have been used for the treatment of acute exacerbation of schizophrenia should be studied in amphetamine psychotic patients. The medications that may be of interest are conventional antipsychotics, newer antipsychotics and benzodiazepines. However, naturalistic studies of amphetamine psychotic symptoms and course are also crucial for the development of study designs appropriate for further treatment studies of amphetamine psychosis.