David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Antipsychotics Suppress Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 13, 2005 -- The antipsychotic agents risperidone and haloperidol reduce manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) when used as add-on therapy with an antidepressant, results of a small crossover trial suggest.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressants are commonly used to treat OCD, but approximately half of patients do not respond to SRI monotherapy.
Dr. Xiaohua Li, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and associates performed a double-blind trial involving 12 patients with severe OCD who were on stable SRI doses. The subjects took risperidone 1 mg/day, haloperidol 2 mg/day or placebo for 2 weeks each in a crossover fashion, with a 2-week placebo washout between treatments. They underwent weekly assessments.
As reported in the June Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, both drugs reduced scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale compared with placebo (placebo 9.23; risperidone, 7.07, p = 0.014; haloperidol 6.70, p = 0.006).
"Considering that the patients had severe residual symptoms during SRI treatment, a significant reduction in obsession within 2 weeks of treatment initiation with each drug is notable," the authors comment.
The team also observed a tendency to lower compulsion scores, and both drugs significantly reduced anxiety scale scores (p = 0.004 and 0.014, respectively).
Risperidone but not haloperidol was associated with lower scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and an enhanced sense of well-being according to Profile of Mood States.
Five subjects discontinued haloperidol before the 2-week phase was complete due to dystonia or severe lethargy. All the participants completed the risperidone phase. Results of neuropsychological tests indicated that neither drug changed cognitive function.
The investigators suggest that longer duration of treatment may result in an even better reduction in symptoms.
J Clin Psychiatry 2005;66:736-743.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 13, 2005 -- The antipsychotic agents risperidone and haloperidol reduce manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) when used as add-on therapy with an antidepressant, results of a small crossover trial suggest.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressants are commonly used to treat OCD, but approximately half of patients do not respond to SRI monotherapy.
Dr. Xiaohua Li, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and associates performed a double-blind trial involving 12 patients with severe OCD who were on stable SRI doses. The subjects took risperidone 1 mg/day, haloperidol 2 mg/day or placebo for 2 weeks each in a crossover fashion, with a 2-week placebo washout between treatments. They underwent weekly assessments.
As reported in the June Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, both drugs reduced scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale compared with placebo (placebo 9.23; risperidone, 7.07, p = 0.014; haloperidol 6.70, p = 0.006).
"Considering that the patients had severe residual symptoms during SRI treatment, a significant reduction in obsession within 2 weeks of treatment initiation with each drug is notable," the authors comment.
The team also observed a tendency to lower compulsion scores, and both drugs significantly reduced anxiety scale scores (p = 0.004 and 0.014, respectively).
Risperidone but not haloperidol was associated with lower scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and an enhanced sense of well-being according to Profile of Mood States.
Five subjects discontinued haloperidol before the 2-week phase was complete due to dystonia or severe lethargy. All the participants completed the risperidone phase. Results of neuropsychological tests indicated that neither drug changed cognitive function.
The investigators suggest that longer duration of treatment may result in an even better reduction in symptoms.
J Clin Psychiatry 2005;66:736-743.
