A naturalistic study on the effectiveness of long‐acting antipsychotics in an early intervention program for patients with recent‐onset psychosis

Abstract Aim To evaluate the impact of long‐acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) on the risk of hospitalization and the length of hospitalization in the setting of an early intervention program for patients with recent‐onset psychosis. Methods Observational, retrospective study conducted under routine clinical practice conditions. We included all patients admitted from July 2015 to April 2020 to the Early Intervention Program in Psychosis. We analysed the incidence of hospitalization and hospitalization days before and after treatment with LAIs and calculated the incidence rate ratio (IRR). We also compared the outcomes of patients treated with LAIs with those of the patients maintained on oral antipsychotics using a binomial negative regression analysis. Results A total of 170 patients were included in the program. Of them, 34 (20%) received LAIs (aripiprazole [ n = 22], and paliperidone/risperidone [ n = 12]). There was an 89% reduction in the incidence of hospitalizations after treatment with LAIs (IRR 0.11, 95%CI 0.05–0.21; p < .0001). The IRR for LAIs vs. oral antipsychotics was 0.87 (95%CI, 0.24–3.18; p = .829). The presence of a substance use disorder significantly increased the rate of hospitalizations by 123% (IRR 2.23, 95%CI 1.31–3.78). Analyses of hospitalization days showed similar results. Conclusions Our results suggest that LAIs are useful for the management of patients with recent‐onset psychosis who fail treatment with oral antipsychotics. Whether LAIs are superior to oral antipsychotics as first‐line treatment of patients with early psychosis and/or could play a special role in managing patients with early psychosis and comorbid substance use disorders should be further evaluated.