The comprehesive psychopathological rating scale--CPRS--in patients with schizophrenic syndromes. Inter-rater reliability and in relation to Mårtens' S-scale.

In the course of a multicenter controlled trial of the effects of neuroleptic drugs on patients with schizophrenic or paranoid syndromes a comparison was made between the Swedish symptom rating scale--Mårtens' S-scale especially designed for patients with schizophrenic syndromes--and a new rating scale--the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale--CPRS. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient between the two scales was found to be 0,48 and as the inter-rater reliability for both scales was found to be quite satisfactory the validity of the scales is discussed. The CPRS scale was found to be easy to handle even for untrained doctors and in a separate study of inter-rater reliability where 5 doctors saw 16 patients a quite satisfactory reliability rk = 0,70--0.97, was found for 33 out of 39 items. In some items, espically those concerning different aspects of affective disturbances a lower inter-rater reliability was found but these items have been revised in later versions of the scale.

Controlled trial of penfluridol and thiothixene in the maintenance treatment of chronic schizophrenic syndromes.

In a controlled trial of penfluridol and thiothixene as maintenance drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenic syndromes, some improvement over previous neuroleptics was seen with both drugs. This improvement was mainly evident in variables concerned with participation in social activities as assessed with the S-scale and by ward behaviour. The drug dosages necessary were very low and gave few and easily manageable side-effects. There was no significant difference between penfluridol and thiothixene. Penfluridol has the clear practical advantage of being the only long-acting drug for oral administration so far available.

Penfluridol and thiothixene. Dosage, plasma levels and changes in psychopathology.

Plasma levels of penfluridol and thiothixene were studied after 4 weeks treatment in a double-blind controlled trial of 47 patients suffering from chronic schizophrenic syndromes. There was found a tenfold variation in plasma levels for penfluridol, and about a twentyfold variation for thiothixene. For penfluridol, a significant correlation between dosage and plasma level and also between dosage and changes in psychopathology as regards factor 5 in the Märtens & Jonsson S scale which comprises the items most characteristic of a schizophrenic syndrome, was found. For thiothixene, a significant correlation between plasma levels and changes in factor 5 was found. A gas-chromatographic method for penfluridol is also described.