Effects of chlorpromazine on sleep quality, clinical and emotional measures among patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was aimed to examine the effects of chlorpromazine on sleep quality, clinical and emotional measures in people suffering from schizophrenia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were enrolled in this study. Our study included a one-week running-in no-treatment period and two-month experimental period. Patients received chlorpromazine during the experimental period. The baseline and treatment outcome were recorded. The objective and subjective sleep were respectively measured by a wrist actigraph and two sleep questionnaires (Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Hebrew Translation (PSQI-H)). Besides, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were performed to assess the clinical psychopathology levels, and while Calgary Depression Scale for schizophrenia (CDSS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAS) had been carried out to examine the emotional changes.

RESULTS: There was a significant effect of chlorpromazine treatment on four objective sleep variables: longest wake episode, sleep onset latency, sleep percentage, and mean activity level (all P < 0.05). However, no significant differences were found in the subjective sleep measures. Likewise, psychopathology levels and emotional measures (depression level and anxiety level) were statistically improved by chlorpromazine treatment compared to the baseline (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that chlorpromazine could improve the insomnia and psychopathology symptoms of patients with schizophrenia.