| Title | Aripiprazole and risperidone for treatment of methamphetamine-associated psychosis in Chinese patients. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2015 |
| Authors | Wang, Gang, Yao Zhang, Sheng Zhang, Huijing Chen, Zaifeng Xu, Richard S. Schottenfeld, Wei Hao, and Marek Cezary Chawarski |
| Journal | Journal of substance abuse treatment |
| Date Published | 2015 Nov 26 |
| ISSN | 1873-6483 |
| Abstract | We evaluated tolerability and efficacy of aripiprazole and risperidone for treatment of methamphetamine (METH) associated psychotic symptoms in China. Patients with acute METH-associated psychotic symptoms (N=42) and with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score between 60 and 120 were randomized to aripiprazole (initial dose 5-10mg per day followed by flexible doses 5-15mg per day) or risperidone (initial dose 2-4mg per day followed by flexible doses 4-6mg per day) from day 3 to 25 of inpatient hospital stay. Outcome measures included PANSS and Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S), METH craving Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Simpson Angus Scale (SAS), Barnes Assessments Akathasia Rating Scale (BARS), and self-reported adverse effects evaluated during treatment. Retention was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and the MIXED models procedure was used to compare the groups on measures of psychotic and extra-pyramidal symptoms. Patients in both aripiprazole and risperidone groups showed statistically significant reductions in psychotic symptomatology from baseline during treatment (p<0.001) with no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups (p=0.73 and p=0.15, respectively). Risperidone-treated patients reported significantly greater METH craving reductions (p<0.001). Overall, 71% of patients completed the entire study, but the aripiprazole group had a significantly lower retention than the risperidone group (p=0.007), primarily due to medication related adverse effects. Aripiprazole-treated patients also had significantly more akathisia (p=0.03) and agitation (p=0.02) than risperidone-treated patients. Patients in both groups who tolerated their medications and completed the entire study achieved comparable reductions of psychotic symptoms. |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jsat.2015.11.009 |
| Alternate Journal | J Subst Abuse Treat |
