A long-term, multicenter, open-label study of risperidone in elderly patients with psychosis

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Abstract
Studies have shown that risperidone is safe and efficacious in young and middle-aged adults with chronic schizophrenia, but considerably fewer data are availabale on the treatment of elderly patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, particularly long-term outcomes. A 12-month, open-label study was conducted to assess the effects of risperidone in elderly, chronically ill, psychotic patients. This study enrolled 180 elderly, chronically ill, psychotic patients (median age, 72 years [range 54–89]), 97 of whom completed the 12-month study. At endpoint, the mean dose of risperidone was 3.7 mg/day. Clinical improvement (≥20% reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Score [PANSS] total score) was achieved by 54% of patients at endpoint. There were significant reductions in PANSS total, subscale (positive, negative, and general psychopathology), and cognition cluster scores at endpoint (ppp<0.001), and the use of antiparkinsonian medication decreased from 41.1% of patients before the trial to 25.6% during the trial. There were no spontaneous reports of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and the incidence of assessed TD was 4.3% in contrast to the expected 26% reported in middle-aged and elderly patients receiving conventional antipsychotic agents for 1 year. Long-term treatment with risperidone was associated with continued symptom improvement, a decrease in the severity of preexising EPS, and a low incidence of TD in elderly psychotic patients. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.