Review: high doses of antipsychotic drugs are no more or less effective than medium doses in people with schizophrenia.

Study selection and analysis: Double blind, randomised controlled trials of people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder comparing two or more doses of typical or atypical antipsychotics were eligible. Dose response curves were plotted and the median effective dose, defined as 50% of the maximum response (ED50), and the near maximal effective dose range (ED85 to ED95) was established for each drug. Estimated equivalent doses were based on ED50. Meta-analysis determined whether medium and high doses vary in efficacy. The lastobservation-carried-forward method and intent-to-treat sample were used for the meta-analysis. The possibility of other biases was explored using sensitivity analyses.