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AMBULANT TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS WITH CARBAMAZEPINE: A FORMAL MULTICENTRE DOUBLE‐BLIND COMPARISON WITH PLACEBO
Author(s) -
Björkqvist S. E.,
Isohanni M.,
Mäkelä R.,
Malinen L.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1976.tb00081.x
Subject(s) - carbamazepine , placebo , placebo group , medicine , anesthesia , double blind study , double blind , psychiatry , epilepsy , alternative medicine , pathology
One hundred male out‐patients were treated for alcohol withdrawal symptoms with either carbamazepine or placebo in a double‐blind, multicentre trial carried out at five Finnish A‐clinics (alcoholism treatment centres) in different parts of the country. In both the carbamazepine and the placebo groups two thirds of the patients completed the 7‐day treatment successfully, and the final treatment results were considered equally good in both groups. However, the withdrawal symptoms, especially the sleep disturbances, subsided faster in the carbamazepine group than in the placebo group. The change in the total symptom score from the first day of treatment to the second was significantly greater in the carbamazepine group than in the placebo group. The patients' ability to work improved significantly faster in the carbamazepine group.