Ethnic variation in symptoms and response to risperidone in youths with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of symptom presentation and antipsychotic response based on ethnicity in children and adolescents with schizophrenia is limited. The purpose of this naturalistic, retrospective database study was to compare symptom presentation of children and adolescents of different ethnicities with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and response to risperidone. METHOD: African-American (n = 38), Caucasian (n = 30), or Hispanic (n = 37) youths started on risperidone were eligible. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) total, internalizing, and externalizing scores were evaluated at baseline, 90 days, 1 year, and 2 year intervals. RESULTS: At baseline, Hispanic patients had lower CBCL externalizing scores than African-Americans or Caucasians. African-Americans showed significant differences in CBCL total, internalizing, and externalizing scores at 90 days compared to baseline. Hispanics showed improvement in CBCL internalizing scores over the 2 year period. No significant improvements were observed in Caucasians. African-American patients had significantly lower CBCL total at 90 days compared to Hispanic patients. No significant difference existed in 2 year hospitalization rates between groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that ethnicity may play a role in symptom presentation and treatment response to risperidone for children and adolescents with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Future studies in children and adolescents are necessary to examine ethnospecific differences in antipsychotic use and treatment response.