Use of long-acting risperidone in psychiatric disorders: focus on efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness.
Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder, usually necessitating lifelong treatment. Although atypical antipsychotic agents have improved outcomes in schizophrenia, their clinical potential remains limited by patients' nonadherence to medication. Long-acting antipsychotics were developed in the 1960s to enhance treatment adherence and simplify the medication process. However, although conventional long-acting agents assure medication delivery, they are associated with similar side effects to their oral equivalents. The need for an agent combining the advantages of a long-acting formulation with those of an atypical antipsychotic was highlighted in 1997 by the American Psychiatric Association's Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia. The first long-acting injectable atypical antipsychotic, long-acting risperidone (Risperdal Consta, Johnson & Johnson), has since been developed. This article discusses the efficacy, tolerability and cost-effectiveness of long-acting risperidone in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients, and suggests possibilities for how its role in clinical practice may change over the next 5 years.
Keith
Samuel
S
Department of Psychiatry, 2400 Tucker, NE Room 404, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. skeith@salud.unm.edu
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence; D018967:Risperidone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D018967:Risperidone