Purpose: Acute agitation is a common presentation in emergency departments and is often secondary to an underlying psychotic condition. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three second generation antipsychotics (risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine) versus haloperidol in the treatment of psychotic agitation for up to 72 h.
General methods: We recruited 101 patients with acute psychosis who were admitted at the Mental Health Department 1 South of Turin, Psychiatric Emergency Service of San Giovanni Battista Hospital, from June 2004 to June 2005.
Findings: Aggressive behavior, as measured by Modified Overt Aggression Scale and Hostility-suspiciousness factor derived from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, significantly improved in all groups, with no significant between-group differences. Extrapyramidal symptoms were more common in haloperidol treated patients compared with patients receiving risperidone, olanzapine or quetiapine.
Conclusions: Our results show that in the clinical practice setting of emergency psychiatry olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine are as effective as haloperidol and better tolerated.