Assessment of efficacy and tolerability of olanzapine, risperidone, amisulpride and quetiapine at 4weeks in newly diagnosed patients of schizophrenia at M.Y. Hospital, Indore

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by hallucinations and delusions. Second generation antipsychotics are frequently used to treat the schizophrenia. As there are no clear-cut Indian guidelines for starting a particular drug for newly diagnosed cases of schizophrenia we decided to find out efficacy and tolerability of olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine and amisulpride at 4 weeks after the initiation of treatment.

Newly diagnosed cases of schizophrenia of either sex between age group 18 to 65 were recruited;30 cases in each group[N-120, n-30]. Patients were prescribed either of the study drugs in oral tablet form. Efficacy was assessed by comparing baseline [day 0] and week 4scores of PANSS, CGI and GAF score and tolerability was assessed by UKU PERT scale at 4 week.

Olanzapine and risperidone statistically significantly reduced total PANSS score than amisulpride and quetiapine (p<0.05). Olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine reduced PANSS positive sub score significantly than amisulpride (p<0.05). Quetiapine reduced the PANSS negative sub score significantly than amisulpride (p<0.05). Olanzapine and risperidone were slightly better than amisulpride and quetiapine in reducing CGI-S score and improving GAF score. All drugs were equally tolerable at the end of 4 weeks.