***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVE Despite the frequent use of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ( PANSS ) for rating the symptoms of schizophrenia , the clinical meaning of its total score and of the cut-offs that are used to define treatment response ( e.g. at least 20 % or 50 % reduction of the baseline score ) are as yet unclear . We therefore compared the PANSS with simultaneous ratings of Clinical Global Impressions ( CGI ) . METHOD PANSS and CGI ratings at baseline ( n = 4091 ) , and after one , two , four and six weeks of treatment taken from a pooled data base of seven pivotal , multi-center antipsychotic drug trials on olanzapine or amisulpride in patients with exacerbations of schizophrenia were compared using equipercentile linking . RESULTS Being considered " mildly ill " according to the CGI approximately corresponded to a PANSS total score of 58 , " moderately ill " to a PANSS of 75 , " markedly ill " to a PANSS of 95 and severely ill to a PANSS of 116 . To be " minimally improved " according to the CGI score was associated with a mean percentage PANSS reduction of 19 % , 23 % , 26 % and 28 % at weeks 1 , 2 , 4 and 6 , respectively . The corresponding figures for a CGI rating " much improved " were 40 % , 45 % , 51 % and 53 % . CONCLUSIONS The results provide a better framework for underst and ing the clinical meaning of the PANSS total score in drug trials of schizophrenia patients with acute exacerbations . Such studies may ideally use at least a 50 % reduction from baseline cut-off to define response rather than lower thresholds . In treatment resistant population s , however , even a small improvement can be important , so that a 25 % cut-off might be appropriate The authors estimated components of variance and intraclass correlation coefficients ( ICCs ) to aid in the design of complex surveys and community intervention studies by analyzing data from the Health Survey for Engl and 1994 . This cross-sectional survey of English adults included data on a range of lifestyle risk factors and health outcomes . For the survey , households were sample d in 720 postal code sectors nested within 177 district health authorities and 14 regional health authorities . Study subjects were adults aged 16 years or more .  ICCs and components of variance were estimated from a nested r and om-effects analysis of variance . Results are presented at the district health authority , postal code sector , and household levels . Between-cluster variation was evident at each level of clustering . In these data , ICCs were inversely related to cluster size , but design effects could be substantial when the cluster size was large . Most ICCs were below 0.01 at the district health authority level , and they were mostly below 0.05 at the postal code sector level . At the household level , many ICCs were in the range of 0.0 - 0.3 . These data may provide useful information for the design of epidemiologic studies in which the units sample d or allocated range in size from households to large administrative areas Remitted schizophrenic out patients were treated in order to prevent relapse with three doses of haloperidol or propericiazine for 1 year in a double-blind controlled study employing a r and omized design . The drug 's ability to prevent relapse was evaluated by counting the number of symptom-free days for each patient before any sign of relapse or over-dose appeared . Patients were r and omly assinged to the following drugs orally administered once per day at night : placebo ; haloperidol 1 mg , 3 mg , and 6 mg ; propericiazine 10 mg , 30 mg , and 60 mg . Serum prolactin levels in each patient were estimated by radioimmunoassay . All patients treated with placebo  relapsed within 1 year and the relapse rate with placebo was significantly higher than with any dose of the two neuroleptics . Haloperidol increased the number of symptom-free days in a dose-dependent manner . Propericiazine at 10 mg and 30 mg also increased the number of symptom-free days dose-dependently but at 60 mg , the number decreased . It appears that propericiazine shows an inverted U-shaped dose-response curve . Prolactin levels were elevated dose-dependently by both drugs but failed to show a significant correlation with the number of symptom-free days . The present results indicate that haloperidol is superior to propericiazine from the viewpoint of the wider “ therapeutic window ” in maintenance treatment and antidopaminergic properties of neuroleptics , wherein it is important to prevent relapse even in remitted schizophrenics Remitted schizophrenic out patients were prophylactically treated to prevent relapse with three different doses of timiperone or sulpiride for a year in a double-blind controlled study employing a r and omized design . Each drug 's ability to prevent relapse was by counting the number of subjects with different outcomes  ( remission , relapse , adverse reactions ) during the trial and /or the number of symptom-free days for each patient before any sign of relapse or adverse reactions appeared . Patients were r and omly assigned to the following drugs , which were orally administered once every night : placebo ; timiperone 1 mg , 3 mg , 6 mg ; sulpiride 100 mg , 300 mg , 600 mg . Data from previous studies involving haloperidol and propericiazine were utilized as a retrospective placebo group to compare the characteristics of the four drugs for maintenance treatment of remitted schizophrenic out patients . Both timiperone and sulpiride increased the number of patients in remission and decreased the number of patients who relapsed , compared with the placebo group . With timiperone , there was an especially marked increase in the number of patients who showed signs of adverse reactions compared with sulpiride . Sulpiride was the only drug that increased the number of dose-dependent symptom-free days . However , both of these drugs significantly increased the number of symptom-free days compared with placebo . By comparing the dose-response curves of four drugs tested in the same fashion , haloperidol and sulpiride were superior to propericiazine and timiperone because they displayed a wider dose range for the maintenance treatment of remitted schizophrenic out patients Forty-seven chronic hospitalized schizophrenics were treated in turn with placebos , pericyazine , and thioridazine for 12-week periods in a double blind cross-over trial lasting one year in all . The Wing rating scale was used for assessment . Both drugs were more effective than placebo , but neither was better in general than the pre-trial treatment . Pericyazine seemed less effective against the individual symptom of coherent delusions , and thioridazine scored significantly better against the symptom group socially embarrassing behaviour Its pharmacological action in animals is similar to that of the major tranquillizers . It has a five times more potent cataleptic action than prochlorperazine , seventeen times more potent antiemetic activity and four times more potent antiserotonin activity than chlorpromazine . In clinical studies propericiazine has been found to be an effective antipsychotic medication ( 1,3,4,6,7 ) . Furthermore , it was noted that the drug had particular usefulness in the treatment of character disorders ( 6 ) and in patients manifesting aggressive behaviour ( 2,5 ) . In a previous study propericiazine was tested for its calming effect when given as PRN ( prorenata ) medication to agitated hospitalized psychiatric patients under treatment with various other psychiatric drugs . The drug had a calming effect in forty-four of the fifty cases ( 7 ) . To further substantiate these findings in this study the efficacy and side effects of propericiazine were compared with BACKGROUND A recent review suggested an association between using unpublished scales in clinical trials and finding significant results . AIMS To determine whether such an association existed in schizophrenia trials . METHOD Three hundred trials were r and omly selected from the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group 's Register . All comparisons between treatment groups and control groups using rating scales  were identified . The publication status of each scale was determined and cl aims of a significant treatment effect were recorded . RESULTS Trials were more likely to report that a treatment was superior to control when an unpublished scale was used to make the comparison ( relative risk 1.37 ( 95 % CI 1.12 - 1.68 ) ) . This effect increased when a ' gold-st and ard ' definition of treatment superiority was applied ( RR 1.94 ( 95 % CI 1.35 - 2.79 ) ) . In non-pharmacological trials , one-third of ' gold-st and ard ' cl aims of treatment superiority would not have been made if published scales had been used . CONCLUSIONS Unpublished scales are a source of bias in schizophrenia trials 
    Output:
    
On the basis of very low quality evidence we are unable to determine the effects of pericyazine in comparison with typical or atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia .