Available studies suggest comparable efficacy of olanzapine and risperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia over the short term.This retrospective analysis of data from a 28-week, double-blind, schizophrenia trial compared the cumulative amount of time that patients met severity criteria for remission during olanzapine (10–20 mg/day) or risperidone (4–12 mg/day) treatment.The percentage cumulative time spent in remission was 40% for olanzapine- and 31% for risperidone-treated patients (P=0.03) using Definition 1 (PANSS items P1, P2, P3, N1, N4, N6, G5, G9 ≤3), and 18% and 11% (P=0.01), respectively, using Definition 2 (BPRS Total reduced 50%, BPRS psychosis items ≤3, CGI-severity ≤3).During 28 weeks of treatment, olanzapine-treated patients spent more cumulative time in remission than risperidone-treated patients.