Risperidone and Cognitive Functioning in Elderly Schizophrenic Patients

Abstract

To The Editor: We read with great interest the recently published article by Subramoniam Madhusoodanan and colleagues 1 Madhusoodanan S Brecher M Brenner R et al. Risperidone in the treatment of elderly patients with psychotic disorders. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 1999; 7: 132-138 Google Scholar that evaluated the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of risperidone in elderly patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. Conducting the prospective, open-label, 12-week trial and using the Extrapyramidal Symptoms Rating Scale, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and Clinical Global Impression scale as outcome measures, the authors have found that risperidone was well tolerated and efficacious in these elderly patients with schizophrenic disorders. Unfortunately, the researchers did not discuss the possible impact of risperidone intake on the cognitive functioning of the elderly patients.