EFFICACY OF ARIPIPRAZOLE IN TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA IN POPULATION OF CENTRAL INDIA

Background: During the past decade, there has been some progress in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Aripiprazole is recommended at a dose of between 10 and 15 mg/day in the treatment of schizophrenia, with a dose range considered to be effective, between 10 and 30 mg/day. Objective: To study the efficacy and safety of Aripiprazole in low doses of 15 mg versus high doses of 30 mg in the treatment of Schizophrenia. Methods: Total 60 new and old patients (who are not on any treatment) between 18-60 years of either gender who meet the diagnostic criteria as per DSM-IV classification for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups on single blind study criteria. Group-I: Aripiprazole 15 mg once a day, morning dose for 6 weeks. Group-II: Aripiprazole 30 mg once a day, morning dose for 6 weeks. Efficacy assessment included at baseline and at 6 weeks end study scoring on PANSS, EPRS and CGI. Results: In both the groups aripiprazole showed the efficacy by improving the number of patients. In group-I, 20 patients has shown the improvement in overall scores of all scales. In group-II, 16 patients have shown the improvement in overall scores in different scales. Conclusions: Aripiprazole is effective in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, low doses of 15 mg is equally effective as high dose of 30 mg. Keywords: Efficacy, Aripiprazole & Schizophrenia.