Use of long lasting risperidone in hospitalized patients

Abstract

The lack of adherence in antipsychotic treatment is related to the increased number of relapses and, therefore, with a higher incidence of hospitalization and visits to the emergency department; as well as an increase in the family burden and the use of assistance resources.

The introduction of a second generation antipsychotic in a long acting formulation would allow better control for psychotic patients and thus a reduction in the need for extra care

Objective:

To assess the effectiveness of long lasting risperidone (LLR) in the drug compliance and its impact on health assistance resources.

Method:

A retrospective revision was carried out with patients admitted to the acute unit of our hospital between 1st September 2004 and 31st August 2005, with one of the following diagnosis: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and delusional disorder; Choosing from those under treatment with LLR, we obtained a sample of 44 patients.

Clinical and demographical relevant variables were taken into consideration.

The study has a “mirror image” design where we compared data before and after the introduction of LLR using Student t test for dependant samples.

Results:

We observed a statistically significant decrease in the incidence and length of hospitalization following treatment with LLR. An increase in the number of psychiatric casualties was observed, although it had no statistical significance and the data were subject to bias.

Conclusions:

LLR may increase the drug compliance and therefore reduce number and length of hospitalizations.