The Withdrawal of Benztropine Mesylate in Chronic Schizophrenic Patients
- 1 December 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Royal College of Psychiatrists in The British Journal of Psychiatry
- Vol. 143 (6), 584-590
- https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.143.6.584
Abstract
Summary: In this double-blind, four-week study, 28 chronic schizophrenic patients receiving neuroleptic medication plus the antiparkinsonian drug, benztropine mesylate, were either switched to placebo or maintained on benztropine. Patients withdrawn from benztropine reliably increased their overall scores on the Wechsler Memory Scale in comparison with the drug group. Sub-test scores suggest that deficits in attention and concentration were induced by treatment with benztropine. Psychotio decompensation appeared to develop simultaneously with extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) in some patients, but only 14.2 per cent of the placebo group experienced extrapyramidal symptoms severe enough to require resumption of benztropine therapy. It is suggested that antiparkinsonian agents should be prescribed only if and when EPS occur.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Anti-Cholinergic Drugs and Memory: the Effects of Benzhexol on Memory in a Group of Geriatric PatientsThe British Journal of Psychiatry, 1982
- Dr. Manos RepliesAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 1981
- Neuroleptics, Antiparkinsonian Medication, and SchizophreniaAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 1981
- Do Anticholinergics Antagonize Antipsychotic Drug Action?Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1978
- Antischizophrenic Drugs and Brain Cholinergic ReceptorsArchives of General Psychiatry, 1974
- The Structure of the Wechsler Memory Scale and its Relationship to ‘Brain Damage’British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1973
- REVERSAL OF SOME THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF AN ANTIPSYCHOTIC AGENT BY AN ANTIPARKINSONISM DRUGJournal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 1973
- Evaluating the Long-Term Need for Antiparkinson Drugs by Chronic SchizophrenicsArchives of General Psychiatry, 1972
- A RATING SCALE FOR EXTRAPYRAMIDAL SIDE EFFECTSActa Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1970
- The Brief Psychiatric Rating ScalePsychological Reports, 1962