OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical efficacy and safety of three-step acupuncture (TSA) combined with small dosage antipsychotic in treating incipient schizophrenia (IS).

METHODSSixty IS patients were randomly assigned to the test group and the control group equally. Patients in the test group received the combined therapy of TSA and antipsychotic, while patients in the control group were treated by full-dose antipsychotic, all for 8 weeks. The clinical efficacy was assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), and the adverse reaction was evaluated by treatment emergent symptom scale (TESS).

RESULTSThe clinical efficacy in the two groups showed insignificant difference at the end of the 8-week treatment (P > 0.05), but the total scores of PANSS evaluated at the end of the 2nd and 4th week in the test group (74.26 +/- 9.54, 56.33 +/- 10.12) were significantly higher than those in the control group (85.56 +/- 9.73, 70.57 +/- 9.62), respectively (P < 0.05), furthermore, TESS analysis showed that the incidence of adverse reactions in nervous system and autonomic nervous system in the test group were also lesser than in the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe combined therapy of TSA and small dose antipsychotic shows an efficacy equivalent to that of full-dose antipsychotic, but with shorter initiation time and less side effects.