Comparative efficacy of flupentixol and risperidone on negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients

Philipp M, Lesch OM, Walter H, et al. Comparative efficacy of flupentixol and risperidone on negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients. PSYCHOPHARMAKOTHERAPIE. 2002;9(2):67-74.The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of flupentixol and risperidone under controlled conditions on the negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients. Methods: 153 chronic schizophrenic patients with prevailing negative symptoms from 30 psychiatric centers were treated under double-blind conditions either with 4 to 12 mg flupentixol or with 2 to 6 mg risperidone over a period of six months. After 8, 16 and 24 weeks treatment the changes versus baseline in the PANSS negative subscale were compared between the groups. Secondary measures such as positive and global symptomatology (PANSS), depressive symptoms (MADRS) and extrapyramidal symptoms (ESRS) were also compared. Results: Flupentixol (mean dose 6,63 mg/d) was not inferior to risperidone (mean dose 3.65 mg/d) in efficacy against negative symptoms after 8, 16 and 24 weeks. With respect to positive symptoms and global psychopathology there was also no difference between the two drugs. Neither the improvement of accompanying depressive symptoms nor that of preexisting parkinsonian symptoms showed a statistically significant difference between both treatment groups. Conclusions: Flupentixol can be named a "partial atypical" antipsychotic drug, because it has been shown to be not inferior to the atypical drug risperidone in terms of efficacy on schizophrenic negative symptoms