Treatment of patients with first-episode psychosis: two-year outcome data from the Danish National Schizophrenia Project

First episode psychosis interventions have been in focus in the last two decades in an attempt to improve the course and outcome of schizophrenic disorders. The Danish National Schizophrenia Project began in 1997 its intake of patients, aged 16-35, with a first psychotic episode of a schizophrenic spectrum disorder, diagnosed by ICD-10 (F20-29). The study was carried out as a prospective, longitudinal, multicentre investigation, encompassing 16 centres, spread all over the country. The sample consists of 562 patients consecutively diagnosed during two years. Patients were treated with "supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy as a supplement to treatment as usual", "integrated, assertive, psychosocial and educational treatment programme", or "treatment as usual". Data on symptoms and social function and sociodemographic data were obtained at inclusion, and at year 1 and 2. The three sub-cohorts did not differ at baseline. After one year, the total sample of patients improved significantly concerning symptoms and social function. The significance of the improvement remained after two years. After one year, patients in the two intervention groups improved more concerning symptoms and social function than patients in the treatment-as-usual group. Improvement in the intervention groups continued into the second year. Patients receiving integrated assertive treatment faired better than those being treated with the less intensive method of supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy, and the latter group improved more than the treatment-as-usual group