Tiapride in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia

The effect of Tiapride on dyskinesia was evaluated in 12 patients with tardive dyskinesia in a double-blind controlled cross-over trial. The effect was measured by a Doppler-radar device and by counting the number of involuntary movements from video-recordings. Besides these methods, subjective assessments were made on analogue scales by family, nurses and attendant doctors. The subjective evaluation appeared to be useless because of many inconsistent answers. The quantitative methods revealed a significant diminution of the involuntary movements in the Tiapride therapy period (P less than 0.01). It appears that tiapride is an effective drug in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. No clinically important side-effects have been observed. The drug appeared not to induce parkinsonism.