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document
Haloperidol blood levels and effects in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder : a progress report . To test the hypothesis of a " therapeutic window , " we have randomly assigned acutely exacerbating schizophrenic or schizoaffective patients to one of three plasma levels of haloperidol ( HAL ) : 2-13 , 13.1-24 , or 24.1-35 ng/ml . Patients who did not improve after 6 weeks of this treatment were randomly assigned to one of the three haloperidol levels for another 6 weeks . The improvement was defined as at least 50 percent reduction of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ( BPRS ) total score . The results obtained in 111 patients do not support any consistent relationship between plasma level of haloperidol and clinical improvement . Patients in the high haloperidol plasma range tended to have more side effects . These results suggest that the haloperidol doses used in clinical practice may be higher than necessary .
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Intervention_Pharmacological
Haloperidol
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Intervention_Pharmacological
haloperidol ( HAL )
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Intervention_Pharmacological
haloperidol
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Intervention_Pharmacological
haloperidol
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Intervention_Pharmacological
haloperidol
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Intervention_Pharmacological
haloperidol
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Outcome_Physical
schizophrenia
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Outcome_Physical
schizoaffective
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Outcome_Physical
schizophrenic
59699
Outcome_Physical
schizoaffective
59700
Outcome_Mental
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ( BPRS ) total score
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Outcome_Physical
plasma level of haloperidol
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Outcome_Other
clinical improvement .
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Outcome_Adverse-effects
side effects .
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Participant_Condition
schizophrenia
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Participant_Condition
schizoaffective disorder
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Participant_Condition
schizophrenic
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Participant_Condition
schizoaffective
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Participant_Sample-size
111 patients