A double-blind comparative study of remoxipride and haloperidol in acute schizophrenia

Seventy-one patients were entered into a multicentre, double-blind randomized study to compare the efficacy and safety of remoxipride with those of haloperidol in the acute treatment of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder. The patients, who were well-matched regarding demographic characteristics, were aged 18-64 years. Four patients in the remoxipride group and 6 in the haloperidol group discontinued treatment prematurely. The mean daily doses during the last week of treatment were 363 mg remoxipride and 9 mg haloperidol. At this time 22% of patients on remoxipride and 66% of those on haloperidol were taking anticholinergics (p less than 0.001). The clinical efficacy was similar in both groups as judged by Present State Examination (PSE) profile and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) ratings. Several adverse symptoms occurred significantly more frequently during treatment with haloperidol than with remoxipride, particularly where extrapyramidal symptoms were concerned. No clinically relevant changes occurred in the laboratory tests in either group.