The introduction of the first atypical antipsychotic with a long acting formulation has open new therapeutic options for the treatment of schizophrenic patients. Our objective consists of comparing psychopathology levels and global functioning in patients with paranoid schizophrenia treated in monotherapy either with long-acting injectable risperidone (LAIR) or conventional depot antipsychotics (DA).

Patients attending at the community mental health center during the six-month recruitment period were eligible to enter the study. Scores achieved in positive and negative subscales of PANNS and EEAG scale of (Global Activity Evaluating Scale) were evaluated at baseline and 6 months later. Six patients treated with RLAI and six patients treated with DA were recruited. Data were analyzed both with the real sample (N=6 per group) and extrapoling the same results to a bigger sample size (N=24 per group).

Mean increase in scores for both PANNS positive and negative subscales were lower in patients treated with RLAI that in those treated with DA (positive subscale: 0.018±0.06 vs. 0.048±0.03, RLAI and DA, respectively, p=0.387; negative subscale: 0.232±0.076 vs. 0.3095±0.123, RLAI and DA, respectively, p=0.579). EEAG scores were higher for patients treated with RLAI than those treated with DA (1.250±0.56 vs. 0.333±0.225, p=0.144). When these results are extrapolated to a sample of 24 patients per group, differences in EEAG reach statistical significance (p=0.034).

After 6 months of treatment, patients treated with RLAI tend to show a greater improvement in their global activity than those treated with DA.