Hospital days in risperidone-treated patients

Objective: To compare inpatient hospital days of a group of "real world" sc hizophrenia-spectrum patients for 3 years prior to and 3 years after risper idone initiation. Method: This is a retrospective cohort study using a mirror-image design of hospital days in 120 patients over a 6-year period. Hospital admission and discharge information was obtained from chart review and database extracti on at 3 outpatient treatment sites. The sample comprised all patients atten ding these clinics who were prescribed risperidone during the first year of the drug's release. Results: Patients separated into 3 treatment groups. those who were prescri bed risperidone for 3 uninterrupted years (N = 35), those who interrupted b ut resumed risperidone use and were prescribed the drug at 3 years (N = 8), and those who discontinued risperidone during the 3-year follow-up period (N = 77). The group continuing risperidone to 3 years demonstrated a signif icant decrease in hospital days after risperidone treatment, in contrast to the other 2 groups. The reduction in inpatient days for the total sample w as not statistically significant. Conclusion: In this outpatient clinic sample, the 29% of patients who conti nued on risperidone showed a significant reduction in inpatient hospital da ys, from an average of 17.2 days per year in the 3 years before risperidone treatment to an average of 2.1 days per year for the 3 years of risperidon e treatment.