Haloperidol Versus Thioridazine for Hospitalized Psychogeriatric Patients: Double‐blind Study*

A bstract A 12‐week double‐blind study was started with 60 actively psychotic geriatric patients residing in Boston State Hospital, to compare the psychopharmacological efficacy of haloperidol with that of thioridazine. The dosage was flexible—an initial low dosage followed by gradual increments until a satisfactory therapeutic response was obtained. Average maintenance dosages were about 2 mg a day for haloperidol and 100–125 mg a day for thioridazine. The rating instruments used were the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Stotsky Mental Status, Clinical Global Impression, NOSIE‐30 (Nurse's Observation Scale), and Activities of Daily Living. At the end of the study, 50 patients were available for analysis. Our results indicated significant decreases in many areas of psychotic psychopathology for both drug groups, without significant differences between the actions of the two drugs. For both haloperidol and thioridazine, significant (P .05) improvement occurred in the following variables on the BPRS and the NOSIE‐30: anxiety, excitement, irritability, hostility, suspiciousness, hallucinatory behavior, mannerisms, tension, unusual thoughts, blunted affect, neatness, and manifest psychosis. Side effects, with the low dosages used, were not common, and were surprisingly similar for the two drugs. Haloperidol appeared essentially equivalent to thioridazine in both efficacy and in the frequency and type of side effects observed.