A comparative trial on the efficacy of risperidone vs chlorpromazine in thetreatment of chronic schizophrenia

Objective: To compare the efficacy of risperidone with that of chlorpromazine in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. Methods: 120 patients with diagnosis of chronicschizophrenia were randomly assigned to two groups that were treated with either risperidone or chlorpromazine for 12 weeks. The therapeutic response and side effects were evaluated with the PANSS and TESS. Results: The overall therapeutic effect of risperidone and that of chlorpromazine were respectively83% and 78%. Statistical differences were found in the PANSS total scores and N or G scale scores between the two groups (P0. 05). Conclusions: Risperidone is equivalent to chlorpromazine in the overall treatment of chronic schizophrenia, while the former is superior to the latter in the treatment of more negative symptoms.