Abstract:
Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of allopurinol in the treatment of chronic refractory schizophrenia. Methodology: This is a double blind cross-over Randomized Clinical Trial. Nineteen schizophrenic cases in two groups is quite a low number to arrive at meaningful conclusion. Patients were grouped in allopurinol and placebo group by randomized blocking method. The evaluation of symptoms was done by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) questionnaire at 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months and one year after the cessation of drug consumption. The data was analyzed by paired T test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: There was a significant decrease in positive, general and total symptoms’ scores in patients who took allopurinol for first six month in comparison to their baseline score at beginning of the study (P0.05). Conclusion: Our study shows some degree of decrease (but not significant) in symptoms scores. It seems that more studies with a larger sample size, different doses of allopurinol and different group of patients are necessary in high refractory schizophrenic patients to come at some meaningful Conclusions.
Page(s):
591-596
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, Volume: 25, Issue: 4, Year: 2009