Treatment Discontinuation Following Randomization to Open-Label Olanzapine, Risperidone or Typical Antipsychotics During a One-Year Treatment for Schizophrenia

Objective: To compare olanzapine, risperidone and typical antipsychotics on medication discontinuation for any cause during one-year, open-label treatment for schizophrenia. Methods: This post hoc analysis used data from a one-year, randomized, open-label, multi-site, cost-effectiveness study of schizophrenia conducted between May 1998 and September 2002. If clinically warranted, patients could switch antipsychotics. Patients randomized to olanzapine (n=222), risperidone (n=217) or typical antipsychotic of physician's choice (n=209) were compared on average time to all-cause medication discontinuation and survival rates over the one-year study. Results: The average time to all-cause discontinuation was longer for olanzapine than for risperidone (p<.001), typical antipsychotics (p<.001), and versus perphenazine, a medium potency typical antipsychotic (p=.002). Treatment with risperidone was longer than with typicals (p<.01), but not significantly different from perphenazine. One-year survival rate was high...