Citation

Fuglum E, Schillinger A, Andersen JB, Belstad BE, Jensen D, Muller F, Muller KJ, Schulstad B, Elgen K. Pharmatherapeutica 1989; 5(5): 285-291.

Affiliation

Moss Sykehjem, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Clayton-Wray Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2568639

Abstract

A double-blind study was carried out in 48 hospitalized, elderly demented patients with key symptoms of aggressiveness and agitation to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of zuclopenthixol compared with that of haloperidol/levomepromazine. Patients were allocated at random to receive initial doses of either 4 mg zuclopenthixol daily or 1 mg haloperidol in the morning and 5 mg levomepromazine in the evening over a period of 4 weeks. In Week 4, the mean daily dose was 4.8 mg zuclopenthixol and 1.6/7.6 mg haloperidol/levomepromazine, respectively. After 1 week, the severity of illness was already significantly reduced, and was further reduced after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment in both groups: the reduction, however, was most pronounced in the zuclopenthixol group and after 2 weeks this difference was significant. Side-effects were few. The results of the study indicate that, whilst both zuclopenthixol and haloperidol/levomepromazine were effective and well tolerated in these elderly patients with aggressiveness and agitation, onset of therapeutic effect appeared more rapidly with zuclopenthixol, which furthermore provides the practical advantage that it may be administered once a day.

Language: en