Sociodemographic and treatment related variables are poor predictors of haloperidol induced motor side effects.

Abstract

Age, haloperidol plasma levels and sex are associated with haloperidol induced motor side effects according to some lines of evidence, even though some conflicting findings mandate further research. We here report that age and sex were associated with dystonia during the early phases of treatment (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.008 respectively), but are overall poor predictors of the Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale scores' variation over time (first month of treatment) in a sample of 60 acutely ill haloperidol treated psychotic patients. We conclude that age, sex and haloperidol plasma levels are not robust predictors of haloperidol induced motor side effects. Nonetheless, some limits of the study including the small sample size and the imputation of missing data could have diminished the power of detecting minor impacts of the investigated clinical predictors of the haloperidol induced motor side effects.

• Authors: Ina Giegling, Antonio Drago, Martin Schäfer, Hans-Jürgen Möller, Dan Rujescu, Alessandro Serretti
• Journal: Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry (Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry) Vol. 35 Issue 1 Pg. 74-7 (Jan 15 2011) ISSN: 1878-4216 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20868720 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antipsychotic Agents
• Haloperidol

Topics

• Adult
• Antipsychotic Agents (adverse effects, blood)
• Demography
• Drug Administration Schedule
• Female
• Haloperidol (adverse effects, blood)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Movement Disorders (etiology)
• Predictive Value of Tests
• Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
• Schizophrenia (drug therapy)
• Statistics as Topic
• Treatment Outcome
• Young Adult