Economic evaluation of risperidone in an outpatient population

To study the impact of risperidone use on the cost of services provided to severely mentally disabled outpatients and on hospital avoidance, and to analyze patterns in the use of concomitant medications as a surrogate marker of changes in adverse effects or patient well-being.

The patients were 31 clients of community mental health centers who had received risperidone for at least three months and for whom there were at least three months of available data on medication use and costs prior to risperidone treatment. The actual average monthly costs of community mental health services obtained from a county mental health board were compared with service costs prior to use of risperidone, using the patients as their own controls, and compared with a control group.

Compared with the pre-risperidone period, the average cost per month of providing mental health services increased by 73.7% during the risperidone treatment period. Compared with the pre-risperidone period, the average total cost of treatment (including medications) increased by 113.3% during the risperidone treatment period. The average total cost of medication increased by 422.8% during the risperidone treatment period compared with the pre-risperidone treatment period.

From the perspective of the community mental health board, risperidone treatment did not reduce the cost of services provided to these clients, but substantially and significantly increased total costs, including medication.