Pericyazine in the treatment of cannabis dependence in general practice: a naturalistic pilot trial

Figures & data

Table 1 Intention-to-treat baseline characteristics of the study population

	Pericyazine (n = 21)
Demographics
Age	31.1
Male, %	71
Employed, %	42
Married or defacto, %	40
Aboriginality, %	24
Cannabis use
Cannabis in last 30 days, %	100
Cones/day	28.4 ± 17.1
Cones/week	204.0 ± 119.6
Tobacco in cones, %	95
Age of first use	14.1 ± 2.3
Years of negative affect	10.3 ± 8.4
Alcohol and other drug use in last 30 days
Alcohol, % (n)	91 (19)
Alcohol daily, % (n)	29 (6)
Alcohol weekly, % (n)	43 (9)
Methadone program, % (n)	5 (1)
Cocaine, % (n)	5 (1)
Amphetamines, % (n)	10 (2)
Cigarettes per day	17.8 ± 8.0

Notes: Data represent mean ± standard deviation unless otherwise stated. There were no significant differences between groups. Amphetamine and cocaine use was reported to be infrequent within the previous 30 days (once or twice).

Table 2 Change in baseline and follow-up psychological characteristics for participants treated with pericyazine (n = 15)

Psychological measure	Baseline	Follow-up
Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS)/15*	9.8 ± 3.7 (dependent)	2.7 ± 2.8 (not dependent)
Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)/28*	14.1 ± 8.6 (moderate severity)	3.5 ± 4.9 (no clinical levels of insomnia)
Depression (DASS)/42*	24.0 ± 11.6 (severe)	6.6 ± 9.2 (no clinical levels of depression)
Anxiety (DASS)/42*	16.8 ± 11.7 (severe)	3.6 ± 4.6 (no clinically levels of anxiety)
Stress (DASS)/42*	24.9 ± 10.8 (moderate)	6.9 ± 6.9 (no clinically levels of stress)

Notes: Data represent mean ± standard deviation unless otherwise stated.

* P < 0.001, significant effect of time, repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Abbreviations: SDS, Severity of Dependence; ISI, Insomnia Severity Index; DASS, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale.

Table 3 Intention-to-treat analysis of self-reported number of cones smoked and dose of pericyazine per day

	Baseline	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
Cones smoked (per day)*	28.0 ± 17.5	7.2 ± 8.2	2.1 ± 3.3	1.1 ± 1.6	0.8 ± 1.3
Pericyazine (mg per day)	n/a	15.3 ± 4.4	13.9 ± 4.6	11.5 ± 5.8	8.2 ± 6.8

Notes: Data represent mean ± standard deviation for 19 out of 21 enrolled patients who confirmed taking at least one dose of medication.

* Mixed models indicated there was a significant effect of time for cones smoked per day (F_4,18 = 14.39; P < 0.0001).