Comparison of Quetiapine and Risperidone in Treatment of Acute Psychosis: A Double-Blind, Randomized-Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Quetiapine versus Risperidone in control of acute psychotic signs and symptoms in hospitalized patients during four weeks. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized controlled study, a total of 90 patients with a confirmed diagnosis acute psychosis and were hospitalized in Zare Hospital, Sari, Iran, and they were treated with Quetiapine (mean 500 mg/day) or Risperidone (mean 5.2 mg/day), in a 4 week period. The positive and negative symptoms scale (PANSS) and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-s) were used to assess psychotic symptoms and severity of illness in first and the last day of the study. RESULTS No significant difference found between two groups in decreasing positive and negative sub-scores in the PANSS. Risperidone was superior to Quetiapine in decreasing the PANSS general psychopathology sub-scores and total score (p<0.05). No significant difference found between two groups in decreasing CGI-s score.