title: Risperidone long-acting therapy in stable patients with recently diagnosed schizophrenia.
abstract: Early and maintained treatment is important for better long-term outcomes in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that treatment with injectable risperidone long-acting therapy (RLAT) would be associated with improved outcomes in recently diagnosed patients compared with those having longer illness duration. Post-hoc analyses were conducted from a 1-year study of stable patients receiving RLAT (25 or 50 mg every 2 weeks) to compare patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in < or ears (recently diagnosed; n=57) with those diagnosed more than 3 years (n=266). Relapse rates were 10.5 and 21.8%, respectively [P=0.053, chi(2)azard ratio 2.2 (95% confidence interval=0.95, 5.13)]. Both groups improved significantly in mean total Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S) scores (P<0.01). Recently diagnosed patients showed greater improvement versus patients diagnosed for more than 3 years in adjusted mean Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total (-10.2+/-2.0 vs. -3.8+/-0.9; P=0.004) and Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (-0.5+/-0.1 vs. -0.2+/-0.1; P=0.002) scores. The most common adverse events were insomnia (31.6 vs. 26.7%), psychiatric disorders (19.3 vs. 20.7%), headache (15.8 vs. 19.2%), anxiety (12.3 vs. 17.3%), and influenza (10.5 vs. 5.3%). These findings confirm the benefit of RLAT in patients with schizophrenia and suggest that earlier treatment with long-acting preparations is associated with better outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Titusville, New Jersey, USA. wmacfadd@its.jnj.com
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Macfadden
authors.forename: Cynthia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bossie
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Turkoz
authors.forename: John Thomas
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Haskins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D018967:Risperidone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D018967:Risperidone