Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Antipsychotic Drugs for Tic Disorders: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of antipsychotic drugs for tic disorders (TDs) in a network meta-analysis.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and 4 Chinese databases were searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs for TDs were included.
Results: Sixty RCTs were included. In terms of tic symptom score, compared with placebo, haloperidol, risperidone, aripiprazole, quetiapine, olanzapine, and ziprasidone can significantly improve tic symptom score (standardized mean differences [SMD] ranged from -12.32 to -3.20). Quetiapine was superior to haloperidol, pimozide, risperidone, tiapride, aripiprazole, and penfluridol for improving tic symptom score (SMD ranged from -28.24 to -7.59). Compared with tiapride, aripiprazole could significantly improve tic symptom score (SMD=-4.27). Compared with all other drugs, penfluridol was not effective. Atypical antipsychotics were generally well tolerated.
Conclusions: Atypical antipsychotics (risperidone and aripiprazole) appear to be the most robust evidence-based options for the treatment of TDs. Quetiapine may be a promising therapy. Ziprasidone and olanzapine are also effective, but the evidence is lacking. Further high-quality directly comparing different pharmacological treatment studies are justified.
Competing Interests: No author declares any conflict of interest.
(© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)