Risperidone Olanzapine Drug Outcomes studies in Schizophrenia (RODOS): efficacy and tolerability results of an international naturalistic study

The Risperidone Olanzapine Drug Outcomes studies in Schizophrenia (RODOS) p rogramme was an international series of naturalistic studies designed to ev aluate drug use patterns and outcomes. RODOS consisted of retrospective cha rt reviews performed in patients who had been admitted to hospital and trea ted in 61 centres in nine countries. The analysed population consisted of 1 901 patients with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. T he mean (SD) daily doses of risperidone and olanzapine were 5.3 (2.6) mg/da y and 14.5 (5.1) mg/day, respectively. Patients treated with risperidone st ayed an average of 3.8 days less in hospital compared to those receiving ol anzapine (time to discharge was 43.6 days versus 47.4 days, respectively; P = 0.004). Risperidone was rated as effective in significantly more patient s than olanzapine (84% versus 79%; P = 0.01). The time to onset of efficacy was significantly shorter with risperidone than with olanzapine (P < 0.001 ). The numbers of adverse events in the two treatment groups were not signi ficantly different (13% risperidone, 11% olanzapine; P = 0.1). Correcting f or small but statistically significant baseline differences between the two treatment groups did not produce a substantive change in the magnitude or significance of any outcome parameter. In conclusion, the clinical outcomes reported by RODOS suggest that risperidone may be more effective as a firs t-line therapy drug for schizophrenia than olanzapine. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.