A Comparative Study of Quetiapine and Chlorpromazine in the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia

Objective: To compare the therapeutic effectiveness and adverse reactions of quetiapine and chlorpromazine in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Methods:40 schizophrenics were randomly divided into two equal groups. Patients in the treatment group received quetiapine treatment, while those of the control group received chlorpromazine treatment. The initial dose of the drugs in both groups was 50 mg·d-1 , po. The dose of the drugs in both groups was increased by 50 mg every other day. The limits of doses were 300- 500 mg·d-1 . The average dose of quetiapine was (433 ?19) mg·d-1, po, that of chlorpromazine, (468 ± 39) mg·d-1, po. The course of treatment in both groups lasted 6 weeks. The therapeutic effectiveness was assessed with the positive and negative symptom scale (PANSS), while adverse reactions were appraised with the treatment emergent symptoms scale(TESS). Results: In patients treated with quetiapine, the effective rate was 90.0% and 75.0% of the patients improved markedly. The effective rate in patients treated with chlorpromazine was also 90.0% , but only 50.0% of the patients had marked improvement. Conclusion: Both quetiapine and chlorpromazine were shown to have definite therapeutic effects in the treatment of schizophrenics, but quetiapine appeared to be more effective in alleviating psychic symptoms.