Affiliations 

  • 1 a School of Pharmacy , Monash University Malaysia , Bandar Sunway , Selangor , Malaysia
  • 2 c Kwai Chung Hospital , Hong Kong , PR China
  • 3 d Tai Po Hospital , Hong Kong , PR China
  • 4 e Queen Mary Hospital , Hong Kong , PR China
  • 5 f Prince of Wales Hospital , Hong Kong , PR China
  • 6 g School of Pharmacy , the Chinese University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , PR China
J Med Econ, 2019 Mar;22(3):273-279.
PMID: 30561238 DOI: 10.1080/13696998.2018.1560749

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Very few data are available to demonstrate the economic benefit of early paliperidone palmitate once-monthly long-acting injectable (PP1M) treatment in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: This study has retrospectively compared the healthcare utilization and associated costs of pre- and post-PPIM treatment in 413 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder recruited from three major public hospitals providing psychiatric services in Hong Kong. Patients were categorized into early treatment (≤3 years since diagnosis) and chronic (>3 years) groups, and also whether they were receiving polypharmacy (POP).

RESULTS: It was found that patients who were started on early therapy with no POP had the most favourable outcomes. Overall results of the entire cohort, including both early and late treatments, indicate that there was a slight increase in annual in-patient days (IP) per patient and outpatient visit (OP) by 3.18 and 1.87, respectively, and a decrease in emergency room visit (ER) of 0.9 (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.