To evaluate the effectiveness of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI-a) in reducing the 90-day and annual readmission rates in schizophrenia inpatients.

We conducted a cross-sectional study and included 180 adult patients with psychotic disorders discharged from 2018 to 2019 at a state psychiatric hospital. Descriptive statistics were used to measure the differences between the readmit and nonreadmit cohorts. Logistic regression model was used to measure the odds ratio (OR) for 90-day and annual readmission and was controlled for potential readmission risk factors.

A lower proportion of patients receiving LAI-a were readmitted within 90-day (28.6%) and 1-year (32.4%) periods. Patients receiving LAI-a had lower odds of association for 90-day (OR 0.36, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.139-0.921) and annual (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.131-0.954) readmissions compared to those discharged on oral antipsychotics. A higher proportion of inpatients who received fluphenazine LAI had 90-day (25%) and annual (18.2%) readmissions compared to other LAI-a.

Utilization of LAI-a in patients with psychotic disorders can decrease both 90-day and annual psychiatric readmissions by 64% to 65%. Physicians should prefer LAI-a to reduce the readmission rate and improve the quality of life, and decrease the healthcare-related financial burden.