A comparative study of aripiprazole and Haloperidol treatment for tic disorders in children

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of Aripiprazole and Haloperidol treatment in children with tic disorders.Methods Sixty-eight children of 5-16 years old with tic disorder were randomly assigned to Aripiprazole group(5 ～ 20 mg/d) and Haloperidol group(2-8 mg/d).Treatment efficacy and tolerability was measured using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale(YGTSS) and the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale(TESS) at the baseline,week 2 and 4,and 8,respectively.Results Total tic scores as measured by the YGTSS decreased over time in the both groups.The overall rates of effectiveness after 8 weeks treatment were 79% and 73% at week 8 in Aripiprazole group(5 ～ 20 mg/d) and Haloperidol group(2-8 mg/d),respectively(x2=0.354,P﹥0.05).TESS scores [(2.53 ± 2.95) vs.(12.26 ± 10.58),(1.95 ± 2.06) vs.(7.58 ± 5.26),(1.36 ± 1.85) vs.(4.68 ± 2.06)] were significantly lower in in the Aripiprazole group than in the haloperidol group at week 2 4 and 8 after treatment.Conclusions Aripiprazole may be a promising drug in the treatment among children with tic disorders because of its high efficacy and less tolerability.