Study of penfluridol and chlorpromazine in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia.

This study presents data on the use of penfluridol, a once-a-week orally administered, antipsychotic agent, in the treatment of chronic schizophrenic patients. Fifty-nine patients participated in the initial dose titration segment during which doses of penfluridol were adjusted weekly until the patients' condition became stabilized. The starting dose did not exceed 60 mg per week, and the maximum weekly dose did not exceed 140 mg. Forty-one of these patients continued on to participate in a double-blind comparison of penfluridol with chlorpromazine. Maximum doses did not exceed 140 mg per dose per week for penfluridol and 7350 mg per week for chlorpromazine in the double-blind segment. Patients were abruptly switched from their previous neuroleptic medication to penfluridol without loss of control. Side effects, mainly extrapyramidal in nature, were readily alleviated with benztropine mesylate. Penfluridol, administered orally once a week, appeared to be well tolerated; it was comparable to daily chlorpromazine in treating and maintaining schizophrenic patients.

A brief anxiety rating scale in evaluating anxiolytics.

The Wang Anxiety Rating Scale (WARS) was designed to evaluate degrees of anxiety in patients receiving anxiolytic medication. WARS contains 12 pertinent symptoms of anxiety: nervousness, restlessness, excitability, irritability, worrying, disturbed concentration, palpitation, insomnia, hostility, tremors, smoking, and excessive perspiration. Frequently encountered side effects of anxiolytic medications are excluded. The validity of the WARS was determined by correlation with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) in a single-blind study in which 20 chronically anxious patients consecutively received placebo (three days), 15 mg clorazepate dipotassium (two weeks), and 22.5 mg clorazepate dipotassium (two weeks). Both anxiety scales, a side effect scale, and a global assessment were completed at regular intervals (periods 0-6). Results show (1) highly significant correlation (P less than 0.001) between WARS and HARS for periods 1-6; (2) greater correlation between HARS and side effect scale than between WARS and side effect scale; (3) greater correlation between WARS and global assessment than between HARS and global assessment; correlated changes in scores for WARS, HARS, and global assessment demonstrate efficacy of active medication.

A brief self-assessing depression scale.

The Wang-Self-Assessing Depression Scale (SADS) was devised to provide a brief self-rating form for measuring depressive symptomatology. The present study compares the SADS with the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) to assess reliability and relative ease of completion. Ninety-three ratings on each scale were obtained from a subject group that included normal volunteers and patients with differing degrees of depression. The paired t-test showed no significant difference between mean SDS scores and mean SADS scores for normal volunteers or subjects rated at any of the four depression levels. Positive correlation was demonstrated between tsds scores and SADS scores for depressed and normal subjects. The period of time required to complete the Wang SADS was found to be significantly shorter than for the Zung SDS, while the number of errors and requests for additional assistance were significantly lower. It was felt that these differences would constitute an advantage in the clinical use of the Wang SADS for diagnosing, evaluating, and monitoring the progress of depressed inpatients and outpatients.