Remission in patients with schizophrenia treated with risperidone long-acting injection: Results from the e-STAR project in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Objective:Assess illness remission in patients with schizophrenia enrolled in the electronic-Schizophrenia Treatment Adherence Registry (e-STAR) in Czech Republic and Slovakia.Methods:e-STAR is a secure web-based, ongoing, international, long-term observational study of patients with schizophrenia who initiate RLAI during routine clinical management. Data is collected retrospectively (1 year) and prospectively (2 years). Prospectively patients are evaluated for the following symptoms: delusions, conceptual disorganization, hallucinatory behaviour, mannerisms and posturing, unusual thought content, blunted affect, passive/apathetic social withdrawal, and lack of spontaneity and flow of conversation. Patients in whom all of these symptoms are absent, minimal or mild and within normal boundaries, stable, and do not interfere with thinking, social relations, and behaviour or functioning, were considered to be in cross-sectional remission and if this persisted for at least 6 months, they were considered to be in remission.Results:1,068 patients have been enrolled into e-STAR in Czech Republic and Slovakia; 280 patients have been followed for at least 12-months and were included. The majority were male (57.9%) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (85.7%, 14.3% respectively) with a mean age of 37±12.1 years and a mean time since diagnosis of 9.2±9 years. The proportion of patients who met the criteria for cross-sectional remission increased from 2.4% at baseline to 37.9% at 12 months. After 12-months, 20.6% of patients met the criteria for illness remission.Conclusions:Based on 12-month interim results, the proportion of patients who met the criteria for illness remission increased after initiating RLAI.