Low Dose Neuroleptics in Outpatient Schizophrenics

摘要

The minimum effective dosage necessary to provide adequate prophylaxis for outpatient schizophrenics was examined. Specifically the following were studied: (1) To compare the efficacy and toxicity of 'low dose' (1.25 to 5 mg biweekly) with standard dose (12.5 to 50 mg biweekly) fluphenazine decanoate (FD) in the maintenance treatment of stable outpatient schizophrenics. (2) To systemically assess and compare the social adjustment of patients in the two treatment groups. (3) To assess the total amount of medication required over a one year period by patients in the two treatment groups, including those who relapse and require additional medication to be reestablished. (4) To systematically assess abnormal involuntary movements in order to explore the effects of the two treatments on the development of signs of tardive dyskinesia (TD) as well as to accumulate data on the patients to allow for future follow-up and long-term prospective comparisons of TD development.