To evaluate the clinical and economic outcomes of treatment with Risperidone Long-Acting Injection (RLAI) in Czech Republic patients.

The electronic -Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry (e-STAR), is a secure web-based, international, observational study of patients with schizophrenia who have been initiated with RLAI. Data are collected both retrospectively and prospectively and include hospitalisations and reasons for treatment initiation and discontinuation; patients are evaluated using the Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF).

After 6-months 107 patients (65,4% men) with diagnosis of schizophrenia (76,6%) or schizoaffective disorder (23,4%) were eligible for analysis. The most common reason for switching to RLAI were poor compliance (43,9%) and insufficient response to previous medication (34,6%). At 6-months, 95,3% of patients were still on RLAI treatment. 89,7% of patients were given 25mg of RLAI at baseline and at 6-months 73,5% were still on 25mg. Compared to the 6-month retrospective period, significant decreases were seen in the average length of stay in hospital (21,1 to 5,3 days, p<0,001) and the number of hospitalizations per patient (0,41 to 0,21, p<0,001). Compared to baseline, significant decreases were seen in the occurrence of suicidal ideation (19,2% to 1,9%, p<0,001) and violent behaviour (14,4% to 2,9%, p=0,003). There were significant changes in the average CGI-S score (5,13 to 3,43, p<0,001) and GAF score (47,2 to 64,5, p<0,001) from baseline.

Based on 6-month interim results, treatment with RLAI resulted in significant improvements in disease severity and functioning in patients with schizophrenia.