Behavioral Effects of Drug Therapy on Psychogeriatric Inpatients. I. Chlorpromazine and Thioridazine

Psychogeriatric inpatients were treated for six weeks (after a six‐week clearance period) with one of three medication regimens involving chlorpromazine and thioridazine, to study the behavioral effects. (Total N = 132.) Although the treatments started simultaneously and proceeded concurrently, each treatment assignment was made at random and independently of the other two. The treatments were: 1) chlorpromazine vs. thioridazine, studied “double‐blind”; 2) a single bedtime dose of drug vs. fractional doses throughout the day; and 3) different total daily dosages (30, 60, 90 or 120 mg). Patients were rated on the MIBS, a new inpatient behavior form that utilizes 11 factored scales plus ratings of drug side effects. Schizophrenic and non‐schizophrenic subgroups were evaluated, as well as the total sample. Results were negative for treatments No. 1 and No. 2, but total dosage was significantly correlated with factor scale changes. The pattern of changes was different for the two diagnostic subgroups. The findings on side effects indicated that raters were confounding side effects and therapeutic effects.