To assess changes in illness severity (Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale, CGI-S) and functioning (Global Assessment of Functioning, GAF) in patients initiated on risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) during routine clinical practice and followed up for at least 12 months in the Netherlands.

e-STAR is an international, prospective, observational study of patients with schizophrenia who have been initiated with RLAI. Data are collected both retrospectively (1 year) and prospectively (2 years). Results presented in this report were based on data from patients with at least 12 months of available data in the Netherlands.

There are 190 patients currently enrolled in the Netherlands and 118 patients have at least 12 months of available data. Of the 118 patients, the majority were male (62.7%) with a mean age of 37.7±11.5 years and a mean time since schizophrenia diagnosis of 11.1±21.5 years. The main reasons for switching to RLAI were lack of compliance (42.4%), adverse events (25.4%) and lack of efficacy (24.6%) with previous therapy. At 12 months, 66.9% of patients were still on RLAI treatment. Of the patients who discontinued RLAI, the mean time to discontinuation was 157.8±76.5 days. Mean CGI-S score significantly improved from 4.05±1.14 at baseline to 3.15±1.38 at 12 months (p<0.001). Additionally, the mean GAF score significantly improved from 43.8±12.0 at baseline to 55.2±14.7 at 12 months (p<0.001).

These interim results showed that treatment with RLAI in patients with schizophrenia was associated with significant improvements in disease severity and functioning.