Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1640-1645
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Pharmacologic treatment of noncognitive behavioral disturbances in elderly demented patients
EF Coccaro, E Kramer, Z Zemishlany, A Thorne, CM Rice 3d, B Giordani, K Duvvi, BM Patel, J Torres and R Nora
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
Fifty-nine elderly residents of long-term care facilities who had DSM- III
diagnoses of dementia were studied in an 8-week randomized, double- blind
comparison trial of haloperidol, oxazepam, and diphenhydramine to test the
efficacy of these agents in the treatment of clinically significant
behavioral disturbances in patients with dementia. All three agents
demonstrated modest but significant efficacy as measured by clinician
ratings of agitated behavior and activities of daily living. The absolute
magnitude of improvement was greater for haloperidol and diphenhydramine
than for oxazepam, but differences among groups did not approach
statistical significance. Frequencies of acute adverse events during the
trial were similar across the drug treatment groups. Although these drugs
may differ in terms of long-term safety and efficacy, they appear to be
equivalent for short-term management of agitated behavior in severely
demented patients.
