A comparative study of haloperidol and diazepam in the treatment of anxiety.
In a single-blind study in general practice, 60 patients with anxiety neuroses were randomly allocated to receive either 0.5 mg haloperidol twice daily or 2 mg diazepam 3-times daily for 6 weeks. Eighteen patients (6 on haloperidol and 12 on diazepam) were excluded from the analysis of efficacy. On the Hamilton Rating Scale both haloperidol and diazepam reduced the anxiety and depression scores. The investigator's assessment of 14 anxiety symptoms and signs indicated that haloperidol produced significantly (p=0.05) greater symptomatic improvement than diazepam after 4 and 6 weeks of treatment, and the patients' overall response was also significantly (p less than 0.005) greater with haloperidol. After 6 weeks, 93% of patients felt 'better' or 'much better' on haloperidol, compared with 83% on diazepam. A few, minor side-effects were reported, slightly fewer on haloperidol than on diazepam. In the parameters tested in this study, haloperidol has been shown to be more effective than diazepam in the treatment of anxiety neuroses and appears to provide significantly better overall symptomatic relief and to be more acceptable to patients than diazepam.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003975:Diazepam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
D006220:Haloperidol; D003975:Diazepam