TY - JOUR
T1 - A double-blind comparison of trazodone and haloperidol for treatment of agitation in patients with dementia
AU - Sultzer, David L.
AU - Gray, Kevin F.
AU - Gunay, Ibrahim
AU - Berisford, M. Andrew
AU - Mahler, Michael E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (#MH00910) , the National Institute on Aging (Alzheimer's Disease Core Center Grant #AG10123) , the California Department of Health Services (Contract #90-11299) , and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - The authors compared the efficacy and side effects of trazodone and haloperidol for treating agitated behaviors associated with dementia. Twenty- eight elderly patients with dementia and agitated behaviors were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with either trazodone (50-250 mg/day) or haloperidol (1-5 mg/day) for 9 weeks. There was no significant difference in improvement between the medication groups. Adverse effects, however, were more common in the group treated with haloperidol. Improvement in individual areas suggested that repetitive, verbally aggressive, and oppositional behaviors responded preferentially to trazodone, whereas symptoms of excessive motor activity and unwarranted accusations responded preferentially to haloperidol. These results indicate that moderate doses of trazodone and haloperidol are equally effective for treatment of overall agitated behaviors in patients with dementia, but specific symptoms may respond preferentially to a particular agent.
AB - The authors compared the efficacy and side effects of trazodone and haloperidol for treating agitated behaviors associated with dementia. Twenty- eight elderly patients with dementia and agitated behaviors were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with either trazodone (50-250 mg/day) or haloperidol (1-5 mg/day) for 9 weeks. There was no significant difference in improvement between the medication groups. Adverse effects, however, were more common in the group treated with haloperidol. Improvement in individual areas suggested that repetitive, verbally aggressive, and oppositional behaviors responded preferentially to trazodone, whereas symptoms of excessive motor activity and unwarranted accusations responded preferentially to haloperidol. These results indicate that moderate doses of trazodone and haloperidol are equally effective for treatment of overall agitated behaviors in patients with dementia, but specific symptoms may respond preferentially to a particular agent.
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U2 - 10.1097/00019442-199705010-00008
DO - 10.1097/00019442-199705010-00008
M3 - Article
C2 - 9169246
AN - SCOPUS:0031026215
SN - 1064-7481
VL - 5
SP - 60
EP - 69
JO - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
JF - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
IS - 1
ER -