title: Long-term treatment of chronic schizophrenics with clopenthixol decanoate.
abstract: A study was carried out in 68 chronic schizophrenic out-patients to assess the therapeutic effectiveness and tolerance of long-term maintenance treatment with a depot preparation of clopenthixol decanoate. Patients received 200 mg to 600 mg doses by intramuscular injection every 2 to 3 weeks for a mean treatment period of 20.3 months. Clinical symptomatology was assessed at regular intervals using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and any adverse effects were recorded against a standard check-list. The results showed that there was a significant reduction in total and factor composition BPRS scores after treatment in all patients, the improvement becoming generally evident by the sixth month of treatment. Few autonomic and neurological side-effects were reported.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003006:Clopenthixol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013892:Thioxanthenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D013892:Thioxanthenes; C029674:clopenthixol decanoate; D003006:Clopenthixol