Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Symptom severity
Systematic review	183 people Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people clinically improved short term with haloperidol (range 2–8 mg/day, mean daily dose 5.6 mg/day) with risperidone (range 2–8 mg/day, mean daily dose 6.1 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Difference 7% P = 0.19		Not significant
Systematic review	555 people Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of people with clinical improvement short term with haloperidol (range 1–4 mg/day, mean modal dose 2.9 mg/day) with risperidone (range 1–4 mg/day, mean modal dose 3.3 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Difference 2.6 P = 0.48		Not significant
Systematic review	555 people Data from 1 RCT	Mean improvement in PANSS total score at endpoint long term with haloperidol (range 1–4 mg/day, mean modal dose 2.9 mg/day) with risperidone (range 1–4 mg/day, mean modal dose 3.3 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Mean difference 0.4 P = 0.49		Not significant
RCT	289 inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia	Estimated difference in improvement (units unclear), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) total "composite" score 8 weeks with haloperidol (mean daily dose 3.7 mg/day) with risperidone (mean daily dose 3.8 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Difference –0.238 P = 0.552		Not significant
RCT	289 inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia	Estimated difference in improvement (units unclear), PANSS negative score 8 weeks with haloperidol (mean daily dose 3.7 mg/day) with risperidone (mean daily dose 3.8 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Difference –0.031 P = 0.770		Not significant
RCT	289 inpatients with first-episode schizophrenia	Estimated difference in improvement (units unclear), PANSS positive score 8 weeks with haloperidol (mean daily dose 3.7 mg/day) with risperidone (mean daily dose 3.8 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	Difference 0.059 P = 0.510		Not significant
Systematic review	397 people Data from 1 RCT	Difference in change from baseline in PANSS negative score with haloperidol (mean modal dose 11.7 mg/day) with risperidone (mean modal dose 4.9 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	P = 0.003	Effect size not calculated	risperidone
Systematic review	397 people Data from 1 RCT	Difference in change from baseline in PANSS positive score with haloperidol (mean modal dose 11.7 mg/day) with risperidone (mean modal dose 4.9 mg/day) Absolute results not reported	P = 0.004	Effect size not calculated	risperidone
Systematic review	51 treatment-resistant inpatients Data from 1 RCT	Change from baseline in global neurocognitive score –0.04 with haloperidol (mean daily dose 26.8 mg) +0.42 with risperidone (mean daily dose 11.3 mg)	P <0.006	Effect size not calculated	risperidone