Impact on carer burden when stable patients with schizophrenia transitioned from 1-monthly to 3-monthly paliperidone palmitate

Reducing the frequency of long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication may reduce carer burden. To evaluate the impact of reduced frequency of long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication on carer burden in stable patients with schizophrenia. Carer burden was assessed using the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (IEQ) within a 52-week, prospective, single-arm, non-randomised, open-label, international, multicentre study evaluating the impact of transitioning stable patients with schizophrenia to paliperidone palmitate 3-monthly (PP3M) from paliperidone palmitate 1-monthly (PP1M). 159 carers completed the IEQ (mean [standard deviation, SD] age: 54.8 [12.8] years); 52.2% were the patients' parent and > 50% had >32 h/week of patient contact. At baseline, mean [SD] IEQ total score was in the lower range (23.8 [12.6]), reflecting patient stabilisation. At last observation carried forward (LOCF) endpoint, the IEQ total score decreased by a mean (95% CI) of −4.0 (−5.9, −2.1), indicating a significant overall reduction in carer burden (P