No abstract

introduction: Sodium valproate is an anticonvulsant widely prescribed as a mood stabilizer for treating bipolar disorders. It's role in treating schizoaffective disorders is well documented. There are controversies regarding sodium valproate efficacy in schizophrenia. Although, some studies have reported that it is effective in the management of positive symptoms in acute psychosis, others have not found such an association. Study aimed at assessment the effect of adjunctive sodium valproate in acute stage of schizophrenia. Material and Methods:A total of 60 schizophrenic patients (age 18-45 years) were taken. They were randomly allocated into two groups, A and B. Patients in group A received atypical antipsychotic with placebo and in group B atypical antipsychotic with adjunctive sodium valproate. Olanzapine was taken as atypical antipsychotic in both groups. A diagnosis of schizophrenia was established based on ICD-10 DCR criteria. All patients were assessed by PANSS and CGI-S at baseline and at 6 weeks. The collected data were analyzed by Student and Paired t-tests through SPSS. results: Comparison of mean PANSS scores showed statistically significant improvement in positive symptoms (p<0.014), general psychopathology (p<0.036) and total score (p<0.018) in group B patients as compared to group A. CGI-S scores were also statistically significantly less in (p<0.011) group B patients as compared to group A after 6 weeks. conclusion:Our study shows that if used as an adjunctive to antipsychotic in the management of acute psychosis, sodium valproate will speed up the recovery of positive symptoms.