Dose selection and comparator drugs in schizophrenia research.

Dose selection and comparator drugs are important methodological issues in the evaluation of clinical data. Investigators rely heavily on dose selection in schizophrenia research, particularly when making comparisons between and across groups of compounds. In reality, however, the criteria for selecting a dose of drug in research trials are rather crude. Dosing and comparator issues vary enormously, depending on several factors. This article will discuss some of the dose-selection issues in schizophrenia research and the doses of antipsychotic drugs used in 5 recent comparative clinical trials.