Past Issues

Objectives: Most studies of long‑acting injectable antipsychotic (LAI) drugs have been focused on the efficacy of second‑generation antipsychotic (SGA) LAIs through observation of the various outcomes of shifting from first‑generation antipsychotic (FGA) LAIs to SGA LAIs. Rare studies have assessed the effectiveness of shifting from SGA LAIs to FGA LAIs. In this study, we intended to investigate the effectiveness of shifting from risperidone LAI to FGA LAIs in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: We included patients with schizophrenia and with the ownership of catastrophic illness card in the study. All the study patients had received risperidone LAI at least two months with a minimal dose of 50 mg per month. The case group included the patients who had been shifting from risperidone LAI to FGA LAIs (fluphenazine, haloperidol, or flupentixol). The control group included the patients who were continuously maintaining on risperidone LAI. The primary outcome was the time to hospitalization. The secondary outcomes were the side effects requiring to receive the use of concomitant anticholinergics, propranolol, and benzodiazepines. Results: We had 15 patients in the case group and 98 patients in the control group. The primary outcomes showed no significant between‑group difference in the time to hospitalization (hazard ratio = 3.676, 95% confidence interval = 0.833 - 16.222 ). The secondary outcomes also showed no significant differences between the case and control groups. Conclusion: This study showed no significant differences in the treatment effectiveness and side effects between FGA LAIs and risperidone LAI. The results are compatible with those from a previous LAI study from the National Institute of Mental Health of the United States. But the relatively small effect with inadequate statistical power is the major study limitation, which may produce no significant differences in side effects. We suggest that further large‑sample study is needed to confirm the results of this study.