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Discontinuing antiparkinson medication in chronic schizophrenics
Author(s) -
MANOS N.,
GKIOUZEPAS J.
Publication year - 1981
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.1600-0447.1981.tb00646.x
Subject(s) - placebo , medicine , extrapyramidal symptoms , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , antipsychotic , alternative medicine , pathology
In a double‐blind study of 100 chronic schizophrenic patients, withdrawal of antiparkinson (AP) medication showed that 44 % of the 75 patients who constituted the placebo group (versus none of the patients on active AP medication), complained strongly of debilitating extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and another 22.6 % (versus 8.7 % of the patients on active AP medication), displayed disturbing psychotic symptomatology related to EPS. The authors discuss their findings in relation to the widely held view that AP medication may be safely withdrawn from chronic schizophrenics.