Antipsychotic drugs do not reduce aggression in patients with an IQ below 75, despite common but controversial use for that purpose in the community.
Although aggression decreased substantially whether patients were given a typical or an atypical antipsychotic, the greatest improvements were seen with placebo (65%, 58%, and 79% from baseline, P=0.06), reported Peter Tyrer, M.D., of Imperial College here, and colleagues in the Jan. 5 issue of The Lancet.
"Antipsychotic drugs should no longer be regarded as an acceptable routine treatment for aggressive challenging behavior in people with intellectual disability," they said, even in low doses.
However, the medications may still have a place in treatment of some behavior disturbances among people with intellectual disability, they said, such as for autistic behavior disturbance in children and to prevent further aggressive behavior after the drugs are given as an emergency measure.
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