Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics: Analysis of Prescription Patterns and Patient Characteristics in Mental Health from a Spanish Real-World Study

Background And Objective: Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) have been widely studied in schizophrenia and evidence suggests that they could be also used for the treatment of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. Nonetheless, there are no studies evaluating their role in other psychiatric disorders. We aimed to evaluate the use of the newest monthly and 3-monthly LAIs-aripiprazole once monthly, paliperidone 1- and 3-monthly (PP1M, PP3M)-against the 2-weekly LAIs, using the following clinical outcomes: (1) the number of hospital re-admissions, (2) the number of documented suicidal behaviors/attempts, and (3) the use of concomitant treatments, including benzodiazepines, oral antipsychotics, and biperiden.

Methods: A total of 431 patients were included who were treated with the corresponding LAI over at least 12 months and were previously diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Statistical analyses were performed using an ANCOVA model, Student's t test, and the Pearson's r test.

Results: Our results showed significantly decreased re-admissions using PP3M versus the bi-weekly LAIs and aripiprazole once monthly, while no significant differences were found in suicidal behavior. Furthermore, we found a significantly lower intake of benzodiazepines in PP1M and PP3M groups versus the bi-weekly and aripiprazole once-monthly groups. In addition, patients treated with PP1M and PP3M used a significantly lower dose of haloperidol equivalents versus the bi-weekly LAIs group. Finally, significantly higher doses of biperiden were used by the bi-weekly LAIs group.

Conclusion: In conclusion, paliperidone LAIs reduced hospital re-admissions and, as aripiprazole once monthly, lowered concomitant psychiatric medication versus the bi-weekly LAIs. Further research and analysis of subgroups are needed; however, these findings might be useful for clinicians.