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Lithium carbonate in chronic schizophrenia — a brief trial of lithium carbonate added to neuroleptics for treatment of resistant schizophrenic patients
Author(s) -
Collins P. J.,
Larkin E. P.,
Shubsachs A. P. W.
Publication year - 1991
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.1600-0447.1991.tb03119.x
Subject(s) - lithium carbonate , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , lithium (medication) , population , randomized controlled trial , regimen , psychiatry , medicine , ion , physics , environmental health , quantum mechanics , ionic bonding
The value of lithium carbonate as an adjunctive treatment of resistant schizophrenia was tested in a 4‐week clinical trial using a single‐blind, randomized, consent design. Treatment and control groups were drawn from a population of detained patients in an English special (maximum security) hospital. The 2 groups were comparable in terms of age, sex, severity of symptoms, length of hospitalization and concurrent neuroleptic dosage. The addition of lithium carbonate to the treatment regimen did not result in symptomatic improvement in patients completing the treatment protocol. The ethical and practical difficulties raised by the trial are discussed.