A Comparison of Clozapine and Haloperidol in Hospitalized Patients with Refractory Schizophrenia
Robert Rosenheck, M.D., Joyce Cramer, B.S., Weichun Xu, Ph.D., Jonathan Thomas, M.S., William Henderson, Ph.D., Linda Frisman, Ph.D., Carol Fye, R.Ph., M.S., Dennis Charney, M.D., for The Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group on Clozapine in Refractory Schizophrenia
Background Clozapine, a relatively expensive antipsychotic drug,is widely used to treat patients with refractory schizophrenia.It has a low incidence of extrapyramidal side effects but maycause agranulocytosis. There have been no long-term assessmentsof its effect on symptoms, social functioning, and the use andcost of health care.
Methods We conducted a randomized, one-year, double-blind comparativestudy of clozapine (in 205 patients) and haloperidol (in 218patients) at 15 Veterans Affairs medical centers. All participantshad refractory schizophrenia and had been hospitalized for thedisease for 30 to 364 days in the previous year. All patientsreceived case-management and social-rehabilitation services,as clinically indicated.
Results In the clozapine group, 117 patients (57 percent) continuedtheir assigned treatment for the entire year, as compared with61 (28 percent) of the patients in the haloperidol group (P<0.001).As judged according to the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scaleof Schizophrenia, patients in the clozapine group had 5.4 percentlower symptom levels than those in the haloperidol group atall follow-up evaluations (mean score, 79.1 vs. 83.6; P = 0.02).The differences on a quality-of-life scale were not significantin the intention-to-treat analysis, but they were significantamong patients who did not cross over to the other treatment(P = 0.003). Over a one-year period, patients assigned to clozapinehad fewer mean days of hospitalization for psychiatric reasonsthan patients assigned to haloperidol (143.8 vs. 168.1 days,P = 0.03) and used more outpatient services (133.6 vs. 97.9units of service, P = 0.03). The total per capita costs to societywere high $58,151 in the clozapine group and $60,885in the haloperidol group (P = 0.41). The per capita costs ofantipsychotic drugs were $3,199 in the clozapine group and $367in the haloperidol group (P<0.001). Patients assigned toclozapine had less tardive dyskinesia and fewer extrapyramidalside effects. Agranulocytosis developed in three patients inthe clozapine group; all recovered fully.
Conclusions For patients with refractory schizophrenia and highlevels of hospital use, clozapine was somewhat more effectivethan haloperidol and had fewer side effects and similar overallcosts.
Source Information
From the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. (R.R., J.C., L.F., D.C.); the Center for Cooperative Studies in Health Services, Hines Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Hines, Ill. (W.X., J.T., W.H.); and the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center, Albuquerque, N.M. (C.F.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. Rosenheck at the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (182), VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave., West Haven, CT 06516.
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