A Clinical and Psychometric Evaluation of Flurazepam as a Hypnotic in Psychiatric Patients

SummaryA double-blind trial comparing flurazepam (‘Dalmane’) with amylobarbitone sodium was carried out in adult psychiatric in-patients of both sexes requiring night sedation. Data from 46 patients were obtained and analysed. No significant difference between the effectiveness of the two hypnotics was detected. Haematological and liver function tests did not show any significant abnormalities and no clinical adverse reactions were reported in either treatment group. In addition, 10patients who were not receiving any psychotropic drugs were tested by means of a Random Stimulus Generator/Fast Reaction Timer before entering the trial and after completing 7-nights' treatment. This provided some evidence that amylobarbitone sodium causes significantly greater psychomotor impairment than flurazepam.