In the short-term, risperidone was more likely to produce an improvement in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) when compared with haloperidol (n=2368, 9 RCTs, RR not 20% improved 0.72 CI 0.59 to 0.88 NNT 8). A similar, favourable outcome for risperidone was found in long-term studies (n=859, 2RCTs RR not 20% improved 0.51 CI 0.38 to 0.67 NNT 4;n=675 1RCT, RR not improved 40% 0.75 CI 0.66 to 0.84 NNT 5; n=675, 1 RCT, RR not 60% improved 0.90 CI 0.84 to 0.96, NNT 11). Risperidone was also more likely to reduce relapse at one year follow up, compared with haloperidol (n=367, 1 RCT, RR 0.64 CI 0.41 to 0.99, NNT 7). Less people allocated risperidone left studies before completion, both for short-term (n=3066, 16 RCTs, RR 0.76 CI 0.63 to 0.92, NNT 6) and long-term trials (n=1270, 4RCTs, RR 0.55 CI 0.42 to 0.73 NNT 4). For general movement disorders results favoured risperidone. People given risperidone had significantly fewer general movement disorders (including extrapyramidal side effects) than those receiving older typical antipsychotics (n=2702, 10 RCTs, RR 0.63 CI 0.56 to 0.71, NNT 3). Significantly fewer people given risperidone used antiparkinsonian drugs (n=2524, 11 RCTs, RR 0.66 CI 0.58 to 0.74, NNT 4). As regards body weight, however, four studies (n=1708) found people were more likely to gain weight if allocated risperidone compared to typical antipsychotics (RR 1.55 CI 1.25 to 1.93, NNH 3). Risperidone was no more or less likely than haloperidol to cause sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction (n=106, 2 RCTs, RR 1.55 CI 0.58 to 4.20). Finally, some results found risperidone was more likely to cause rhinitis than conventional antipsychotics (n=656, 3 RCTs, RR1.99 CI 1.24 to 3.19, NNH 3).
