ABSTRACT
Background: The growing awareness of the impact of antipsychotic drug on patients quality of life has created the need for deeper insight into the side effects, other best drug for the treatment of schizoaffective disorder. Objective:- The study was conducted to find out whether olanzapine is more safe than haloperidol in treating schizoaffective disorder and compare the overall clinical efficacy of Olanzapine Vs haloperidol in Schizoaffective disorder. Methods: The sample was taken from sixty patients fulfilling ICD-10 criteria for schizoaffective disorder consenting for study attending the psychiatry OPD and emergency of G.G.S. Medical College and Hospital Faridkot aged between 15-60 years the patients were selected from either sex. After screening the patients who were found positive for schizoaffective disorder, Then these patients were divided into two groups and put on medicine olanzapine (n=30) and tab Haloperidol (n=30) for six weeks. After that all the patients further assessed for clinical status and side effects using BPRS, PANSS, CGI scale, UKU Side Effect Rating Scale and final diagnosis was made according to ICD-10 criteria. Results: The current study was a randomized, double blind, parallel design comparative trial between olanzapine and haloperidol for a period of six weeks for the management of schizoaffective disorder. Total 60 patients who met ICD-10 criteria for schizoaffective disorder were randomly allocated: 30 each in olanzapine and haloperidol groups. 55 patients had completed the protocol .27 in haloperidol group and 28 in olanzapine group. In our study, in haloperidol group we had 8 schizoaffective manic type and 9 schizoaffective depressive type patients, while in case of olanzapine group the number of schizoaffective manic type was 7 and depressive type was 21 i.e. comparable in both groups. Conclusion: The results of the study revealed that overall superior efficacy and safety advantage of olanzapine over haloperidol suggests that olanzapine represents an important alternate treatment option in schizoaffective disorder. These positive findings are encouraging prospective trails in related disorders such as bipolar depression, depression with psychotic features or other psychotic states with prominent mood symptoms.