A Comparative Study of Aripiprazole and Risperidone in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Objective To compare the efficacy and side effects of aripiprazone and risperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia. Methods 70 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to CCMD-3 criteria were randomly divided into two groups and were treated with aripiprazole and risperidone for 8 weeks, respectively. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the clinical efficacy, and Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) was adopted to assess the side effects. Results After the treatment, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the PANSS scores and each factor scores (P0.05). The effective rate of aripiprazole group was 91.43%, and that of the risperidone group was 94.29%. Both aripiprazole and risperidone have good effect on schizophrenia, but aripiprazole has less side effects. Conclusion The efficacies of both drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia are equivalent. Aripiprazole is superior to risperidone in terms of no side effects of significant weight gaining, amenorrhea and galactorrhea, but has more gastrointestinal reactions.