Efficacy and side effects of major antipsychotic drugs (I)

Data from randomized controlled trials that enrolled patients with acute psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia were used to assess efficacy and tolerability outcomes for 23 primarily dopamine-receptor blocking antipsychotics and the muscarinic receptor agonist xanomeline–trospium. Nineteen second-generation antipsychotics included in the analysis were licensed in Europe and in the USA. Selected first generation drugs such as haloperidol, chlorpromazine, perphenazine, and sulpiride were also included.¹

Reference:

1. Schneider-Thoma J, Zhu Y, Qin M et al. Comparative efficacy and tolerability of antidopaminergic and muscarinic antipsychotics for acute schizophrenia: a network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials indexed in international English and Chinese databases. Lancet 2026; 407: 876–891.