Wednesday, May 14, 2008

APA: Antipsychotic Side Effects More Common in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Patients with bipolar disorder were roughly twice as likely to suffer movement-related side effects from antipsychotic drugs as those with schizophrenia, a researcher said here.

That was the result of a meta-analysis looking at the frequency of extrapyramidal symptoms with haloperidol (Haldol) and five atypical antipsychotics reported by Keming Gao, M.D., of Case Western University in Cleveland, at the American Psychiatric Association meeting and in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

Only olanzapine (Zyprexa) was no different from placebo in causing extrapyramidal symptoms in either bipolar or schizophrenic patients, Dr. Gao said.

The researchers pooled data from 24 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, monotherapy trials of various antipsychotic agents in bipolar disorder, mania, and schizophrenia.

They calculated risks as the number of patients needed to treat to cause harm (NNTH) to one patient. Thus, an NNTH value of 10 indicates that for every 10 patients treated, one would develop extrapyramidal symptoms.

READ MORE @ MEDPAGE TODAY