6533b85bfe1ef96bd12bac5d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Prediction of acute clinical response following a first episode of non affective psychosis: results of a cohort of 375 patients from the Spanish PAFIP study.

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Abstract Objective Predicting response to antipsychotic treatment might optimize treatment strategies in early phases of schizophrenia. We aimed to investigate sociodemographic, premorbid and clinical predictors of response to antipsychotic treatment after a first episode of non-affective psychosis. Method 375 (216 males) patients with a diagnosis of non affective psychosis entered the study. The main outcome measure was clinical response at 6 weeks and variables at baseline were evaluated as predictors of response. ANOVA for continuous and chi-square for categorical data were used to compare responders and non-responders. Multivariate logistic regression was used to establish a prediction model. Results 53.3% of study subjects responded to antipsychotic treatment. The following variables were associated with an unfavorable response:1. — lower severity of symptoms at baseline;2. — diagnosis of schizophrenia;3. — longer DUI and DUP;4. — poorer premorbid adjustment during adolescence and adulthood;5. — family history of psychosis, and 6. — hospitalization. Patients with a family history of psychosis, longer DUP, poor premorbid functioning and lower severity of psychotic symptoms at intake have a reduced likelihood of responding to antipsychotic treatment. Conclusion Helping clinicians to identify those first episode patients with a lower probability of having a favorable clinical response is meant as a first step to achieve a successful initial treatment.