Efficacy and Safety of Quetiapine vs. Haloperidol for Mental Behavioral Symptoms in Patients with Senile Dementia: A Control Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of quetiapine vs. haloperidol in the treatment of mental behavioral symptoms in patients with senile dementia. METHODS: A total of 164 patients with senile dementia complicated by mental behavioral disorder who were seen in our hospital between July 2012 and August 2013 were randomly assigned to receive either quetiapine at a dose of( 145 ± 50) mg / day or haloperidol at a dose of( 4. 5 ± 1. 5)mg / day,of 82 cases in each group. After treatment of two weeks,the pathological score for dementia,the curative efficacy and safety in the two groups were followed. RESULTS: Both groups showed significantly reduced pathological score for dementia after treatment compared with before treatment( P 0. 05) with that in quetiapine-treated group significantly lower than in haloperidol-treated group( P 0. 05); the incidence of adverse reactions in quetiapinetreated group was significantly lower than in haloperidol-treated group[31. 3%( 26 /82) vs. 46. 9%( 35 /82),P 0. 05]. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with haloperidol,quetiapine is more safe and effective and it can promote the rapid recovery of mental behavioral symptoms in patients with senile dementia.