Therapeutic effects of clozapine. A 4-year follow-up of a controlled clinical trial.
The double-blind method was used to compare the therapeutic effects of clozapine and chlorpromazine in a sequential cohort of 50 schizophrenic patients with similar demographic characteristics, randomly allocated to two groups ("experimental" and "control") of 25 patients each. At the end of the 6-week trial period, statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in both the symptom check-list score and the overall clinical evaluation. Follow-up evaluations conducted at 3- and 4-year intervals show that the differences between the two groups are presistent, which points in the direction of a better and more sustained therapeutic effect of clozapine over chlorpormazine. No discernible ill effects which could be attributed to either drug were detected throughout the 4-year period.
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003984:Dibenzazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy
D003984:Dibenzazepines; D003024:Clozapine; D002746:Chlorpromazine