Impact of Risperidone Medication on Quality of Life and Gonadal Axis Hormones in Schizophrenia Male Patients with Acute Exacerbation

We investigated the effects of risperidone on quality of life (QoL) and hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis hormones. In this prospective, open-label study, the subjects were 10 male schizophrenia patients with acute exacerbation. After a mean period of 44.6 d treatment, patients were taking a mean dose of 7.0 mg risperidone daily. After treatment, we found that (i) the total BPRS score decreased, (ii) the scores on psychosocial and motivation/energy subscales in the Japanese version of the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale decreased, but the scores on symptoms/side-effects subscale did not, (iii) prolactin increased, but the HPG axis hormones did not change, and (iv) the mean plasma homovanillic acid concentration decreased. Eight patients needed anticholinergic medications, one patient reported impotence, and one patient reported ejaculatory dysfunction during treatment. Our findings suggested that risperidone might improve psychosocial and motivation/energy QoL subscales, and increase prolactin without affecting the HPG axis hormones.