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Source of funding: Beijing Scientific and Technological New Stars Fund.
For correspondence: Dr X Y Zhang, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, [email protected]
Design
Randomised (unclear allocation concealment * * See glossary .
Setting
A psychiatric hospital in Beijing, China.
Patients
112 Han Chinese patients who were 18-60 years of age, had schizophrenia according to DSM-III-R criteria for >=5 years, were resistant to treatment, and had a Clinical Global Impressions scale score of >=4. Exclusion criteria were medical illness, alcohol or drug abuse, receipt of vitamin C or E within 1 week of the start of the study, pregnancy, breastfeeding, or depressive symptoms. 109 patients (mean age 44 y, 58% men) completed a 1 week placebo run in period; 103 (94%) completed the study; all patients were included in the analysis of clinical response.
Intervention
Patients were allocated to EGb, 360 mg/day, plus haloperidol, 0.25 mg/kg of body weight per day (n=56) or placebo plus haloperidol (n=53).
Main outcome measures
Change from baseline on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS),...