Economic evaluation of risperidone in an outpatient population

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of risperidone use on the cost of services p rovided to severely mentally disabled outpatients and on hospital avoidance , and to analyze patterns in the use of concomitant medications as a surrog ate marker of changes in adverse effects or patient well-being. METHODS: The patients were 31 clients of community mental health centers wh o had received risperidone for at least three months and for whom there wer e at least three months of available data on medication use and costs prior to risperidone treatment. The actual average monthly costs of community me ntal health services obtained from a county mental health board were compar ed with service costs prior to use of risperidone, using the patients as th eir own controls, and compared with a control group. RESULTS: Compared with the pre-risperidone period, the average cost per mon th of providing mental health services increased by 73.7% during the risper idone treatment period. Compared with the pre-risperidone period, the avera ge total cost of treatment (including medications) increased by 113.3% duri ng the risperidone treatment period. The average total cost of medication i ncreased by 422.8% during the risperidone treatment period compared with th e pre-risperidone treatment period. CONCLUSIONS: From the perspective of the community mental health board, ris peridone treatment did not reduce the cost of services provided to these cl ients, but substantially and significantly increased total costs, including medication.