Chlorpromazine Used with an Intensive Occupational Therapy Program

Chlorpromazine for schizophrenia: a Cochrane systematic review of 50 years of randomised controlled trials

“…The other 44 studies gave little assurance that bias was minimised during the allocation procedure and this may mean that this review overestimates the effect of chlorpromazine [22]. Twenty-eight (56%) of the trials adequately described their attempts to be double-blind, with two [20] and [23] reporting how successful these attempts were. Two studies [18] and [24] gave no indication that blinding had been attempted.…”

Neuroleptics: Effects on Neuropsychological Function in Chronic Schizophrenic Patients

“…The remaining 12 studies did not specify the chronicity of the diagnosis of schizophrenia (Gilgash 1957; Porteus and Barclay 1957; Castner et al 1958; Grygier and Waters 1958; Nickols 1958; Tourlentes et al 1958; Judson and MacCasland 1960; Lloyd and Newbrough 1964; Small et al 1972; Spohn et al 1977; Fredericks and Finkel 1978; Killian et al 1984). Because of the failure of many of the studies to specify the criteria used for the diagnosis of schizophrenia and the evolution of that diagnosis during the time period in question, the subjects in this review are undoubtedly heterogeneous.…”

“…The tests labeled Vocabulary, Information, Comprehension, and Similarities are subtests of either the Wechsler-Bellevue or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). In only one study (Grygier and Waters 1958), the vocabulary task was not from a Wechsler test. There were no consistent effects of chronic neuroleptic administration on vocabulary tasks.…”

The Treatment of Chronic Schizophrenia

“…The Albany Behavioural Rating Scale, devised by Shatin & Freed (1955), was used as the main measure of behavioural improvement. This scale consists of 100 questions, such as, "the patient knows who she is" and "has to be pushed to follow routine."…”

“…Their full agreement was readily obtained, but from their standpoint it was felt that the first objective could easily be combined with a second one, that is, to determine the relative effects of concentrated Occupational Therapy on small groups of chronic patients with and without tranquillizers, in this case chlorpromazine; in other words to attempt to define the exact therapeutic results of tranquillizers in a hospital where a programme of "total push" was employed. The results of this secondary investigation have already been published, (Grygier & Waters 1958).…”