title: Effects of risperidone therapy on the use of mental health care resources in Salt Lake County, Utah.
abstract: The authors analyze the use of mental health care resources before and after the initiation of risperidone therapy in patients of Valley Mental Health, an agency providing aggressive community-based treatment in Salt Lake County, Utah. Sixty-three patients were treated with risperidone during the period from February 1994 through June 1995. Data for at least 6 months before (pre-period) and after (post-period) risperidone therapy were available for 61 patients; the mean period for which data were obtained was 31.8 months (pre- plus post-period). Risperidone use was associated with a reduction, albeit nonsignificant, in the numbers of patients requiring acute inpatient hospital care (-29%), days hospitalized (-1 day per year), residential treatment days (-0.7 days per year), and day-treatment visits (-1.7 visits per year), together with small increases, also nonsignificant, in the need for emergency/crisis intervention (0.1 visit per year), outpatient treatment (0.1 visit per year), and case management (2.3 visits per year). The costs of institutional plus ambulatory care declined from $7949 to $6910 per patient per year (-13%); the greatest reduction was in the cost of acute inpatient care (-18%). With the addition of risperidone, the cost of psychotropic medications doubled, resulting in a statistically nonsignificant mean increase in total costs of $305 per patient per year. Among the 36 patients who received risperidone during > or = 70% of the post-period and the 17 patients who had been hospitalized during the pre-period, total costs declined -3% and -13%, respectively. The results confirm those of previous studies and demonstrate that risperidone can reduce the use of mental health services.
authors.affiliation: Valley Mental Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durkin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018967:Risperidone / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014589:Utah
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018967:Risperidone