Differential effect of low and conventional doses of fluphenazine on schizophrenic outpatients with good or poor information-processing abilities.
Thirty-six stabilized schizophrenic outpatients were randomly assigned to receive either 5 or 25 mg of fluphenazine decanoate biweekly and were followed up for two years. The best and worst outcomes were found in groups with good or poor information-processing abilities (as measured by a partial-report span-of-apprehension task) given the same 25-mg dose of fluphenazine decanoate. The 86% two-year survival rate of the patients with poor span performance was considerably better, while the 44% one-year and the 21% two-year survival rates of patients with good span performance were considerably lower than previously reported survival rates for schizophrenic patients receiving a conventional dose of fluphenazine. The significant correlations in a patient's span performance for periods up to one year were consistent with the hypothesis that this task taps processes associated with vulnerability to schizophrenic disorder.
D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005476:Fluphenazine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
C011825:fluphenazine depot; D005476:Fluphenazine