Comparison between haloperidol decanoate and oral haloperidol on seeking psychiatric emergency care

Abstract

Introduction Haloperidol is a first generation, high potency, low cost and widely used antipsychotic. There are inconsistencies in the literature about comparison of effectiveness between long-acting injectable haloperidol (HDLAI) with oral haloperidol (OH), as well as the combined use of both formulations (HDLAI+OH). Objectives To verify whether HDLAI reduces the number of emergency visits and hospitalizations when compared to oral OH, or in combination therapy HDLAI+OH. Methods Retrospective observational study on a Psychiatric Emergency department, including patients aged 18 to 60 years, both genders, under continuous treatment for at least 5 months with Haloperidol for any psychiatric illness, divided into 3 groups of patients (HDLAI, OH, HDLAI+OH). Dependent variables: visits and admissions. Independent variables: sex and age. Data were checked for normality (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) and homoscedasticity (Bartlett test). For comparison of average number of visits and hospitalizations of patients Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test was used. It was considered statistically significant if p < 0.05. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Maringá State University. Results No statistical difference between groups HDLAI and OH was found. The HDLAI+OH group presented higher means of emergency visits and hospitalizations with statistical significance. Conclusions It suggests the use of HDLAI can be considered an alternative as effective as oral intake. Prolonged use of associated HDLAI and oral supplementation leads to worst outcomes. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• haloperidol decanoate
• haloperidol
• recurrence
• Antipsychotics