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This study was intended to compare cost-effectiveness between before and after risperidone in schizophrenic patients. Methods：Twenty-four patients who have been prescribed traditional antipsychotics, and elapsed at least one year after changing into risperidone, were singled out retrospectively and evaluated in terms of treatment effects and quality of life by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Quality of Life Scale (QLS), respectively. And we also reviewed hospitalization days, number of hospitalization, and number of visit to outpatient clinic while they took traditional antipsychotics and risperidone during one year, respectively. Results：As for patients prescribed risperidone, there was a significantly decreasing trend in BPRS by 13.46 on the average, as QLS increased significantly by 18.96, compared to before risperidone medication. In addition, hospitalization days and number of hospitalization decreased by 18.96 days and 0.63 times per capita, respectively after risperidone treatment (p<0.05, p<0.05). The direct costs were estimated about 102,000,000 won for traditional antipsychotics and 100,000,000 won for risperidone during 1 year, showing no significant difference between two groups. The proportion in inpatient units out of total cost occupied 77.2% for traditional antipsychotics in comparison to 33.7% for risperidone. Conclusion：Risperidone may have better treatment effects and favorable cost-benefit effect than traditional antipsychotics despite of several limitation.
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