To compare 12 month outcomes in schizophrenia patients enrolled in e-STAR in Spain who received RLAI or oral antipsychotics.

e-STAR is a secure, web-based, international, long-term observational study of schizophrenia patients who commence a new antipsychotic drug. PS was applied to adjust for baseline differences in patients who received RLAI or oral (atypical or conventional) antipsychotics to compare all-cause discontinuation rates, hospitalisation parameters, and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF).

Data from 1,332 (83%) patients who initiated RLAI and 268 (17%) who initiated a new oral antipsychotic are available. Significant raw baseline differences existed for hospitalisation parameters, unemployment and time since diagnosis, each being more prevalent in the RLAI group. Nevertheless, a significantly greater proportion of patients remained on RLAI at 12 months (84%) than on oral antipsychotics (60.4%) (p<0.0001); this benefit persisted after application of PS. The mean number of days hospitalised at 12 months was 14.3 days lower in the RLAI group (12.9 days, n=433) than in the oral antipsychotic group (27.2 days, n=62) increasing to 19.1 days, significantly in favour of RLAI, when PS was applied (p<0.01 vs oral). The probability of being in hospital was lower in RLAI patients (OR 0.69) and decreased further after PS (OR 0.57)(p=0.075). GAF scores improved more in the RLAI group than the oral group at 12 months, with and without PS, but not significantly.

Although patients initiating RLAI were more severely ill, they had fewer hospitalisations and were less likely than oral antipsychotic patients to discontinue treatment.