title: Open-label treatment with risperidone of 26 psychiatrically-hospitalized children and adolescents with mixed diagnoses and aggressive behavior.
abstract: Open-label risperidone was administered to 26 subjects (24 boys: 19 with borderline IQ and 5 with mild mental retardation), 10-18 years old, who were hospitalized for treatment of psychiatric disorders associated with aggressive behavior. Risperidone was given in daily doses ranging from 0.5 to 4 mg for periods of 2-12 months. Treatment response was monitored by means of the improvement scale of the CGI and the modified OAS. Extrapyramidal side effects were measured on the ESRS. Fourteen (54%) of 26 subjects had a marked reduction in aggression; 10 subjects had a moderate reduction; two subjects had mild changes; and none worsened. Two subjects had a marked weight gain in the first 8 weeks of treatment. In seven of the 22 children who continued taking risperidone after week 8, tiredness and sedation that necessitated dose reduction emerged between weeks 8 and 16. These results suggest that risperidone may be useful when treating severe aggressive behavior in children and adolescents. Weight gain and sedation can be troublesome side effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry and Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neurosciences, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. J.K.Buitelaar@psych.azu.nl
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Buitelaar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000523:psychology; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018967:Risperidone