A control study of Aripiprazole vs.Risperidone in the treatment of first-episode schizophrenia

Objective:To explore the efficacy and safety of Aripiprazole in the treatment of first-episode schizophrenia.Methods:120 schizophrenics were randomly divided into two groups of 60 ones each,research group took orally Aripiprazole and control group did Risperidone for 6 weeks.Clinical efficacies were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS)and adverse reactions with the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale(TESS)before treatment and at the ends of the 2nd,4th,6th week treatment.Prolactin levels were examined before and after treatment.Results: At the end of the 6th week,significant efficiency and effective rate was 68.3% and 88.3% in research and 78.3% and 91.7% in the control group,respectively,which showed no significant differences(P0.05);since the end of the 2nd week,total and all factor score of the PANSS of both groups lowered more significantly compared with pretreatment(all P0.01)and did continuously along with the time of mtherapy lasting,but there were no significant differences in synchronization group comparisons(P0.05).Prolactin level in the research had no difference from control group before treatment,but was significantly lower than in the latter after treatment(P0.01).Adverse reactions of both groups were mild,the incidence of akathisia,weight gain,menstruation change and lactation significantly lower in the research than in the control group(P0.05 or 0.01).Conclusions: Aripiprazole has similar efficacy to Risperidone in the antipsychotic treatment with mild impact on prolactin level.So Aripiprazole is safe and effective antipsychotics.