A comparative study of quetiapine and risperidone in the treatment of aged patients with schizophrenia

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety between quetiapine and risperidone in the treatment of aged patients with schizophrenia.Methods Sixty-eight aged inpatients with schizophrenia were randomly divided into two groups receiving quetiapine or risperidone respectively for 8 weeks.PANSS was used to evaluate efficacy.TESS was used to evaluate side effects.Results After the treatment of 8 weeks,PANSS scores in both groups significantly decreased.The efficacy rate and marked improvement rate of quetiapine were 91 2% and 76 5% respectively,those of risperidone were 88.2%and 73.5% respectively,and there were no significant differences between two groups ( P 0.05).Fewer and slighter side effects in quetiapine group were reported.Conclusion Quetiapine and risperidone have similar efficacy in the treatment of aged patients with schizophrenia.Quetiapine has fewer side effects and high safety.