Dosage of haloperidol for schizophrenia

Eighty-seven newly admitted inpatients with schizophrenia were randomized to receive 10, 30, or 80 mg/d of oral haloperidol. They were treated under double-blind conditions for 6 weeks, less if their acute symptoms remitted sooner. Survival analysis showed no differences among the three treatments. Side effects were minimal in all three treatment groups, and there were no differences in side effects among the groups. These results suggest that dosages higher than 10 mg/d of haloperidol for most patients have no additional beneficial effect in the treatment of acute or exacerbated schizophrenia.