Early Pharmacological and Psychological Intervention for Late Prodromal States of Psychosis

The first diagnosis of schizophrenia is preceded by a long lasting period comprising an untreated psychotic and a prodromal state. The duration of untreated psychosis correlates with a significant worsening of several outcome variables and persons fulfilling criteria of a prodromal state are already suffering from prodromal symptoms and from a significant deterioration of social and vocational functioning. However, a sufficient strategy for early intervention is still lacking. The study will provide an empirical basis for a pharmacological treatment option. An open-label, randomized, multi-centre parallel group design is used. An intensified clinical management (CM), which allows needs-based psychological crisis intervention, is compared to a combination of such a CM and the atypical neuroleptic amisulpride. For analysis 130 patients will be recruited within three years, the treatment period is two years.

Inclusion criteria

• General criteria

• Age between 14 and 36 years
• male or female, in- or outpatients
• written informed consent, for patients below 18 years also signed by parents
• Special criteria (present within the last three months prior to the study)

• Attenuated Positive Symptoms (APS)
• Presence of at least one of the following symptoms: ideas of reference, odd beliefs or magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, odd thinking and speech, suspiciousness or paranoid ideation
• Symptoms have to appear several times per week for a period of at least one week

AND / OR

• Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms (BLIPS)
• Duration of episode less than one week, interval between episodes at least one week
• Symptoms resolve spontaneously
• Presence of at least one of the following symptoms: Hallucinations, Delusions, Formal thought disorder, Gross disorganized or catatonic behavior

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform,schizoaffective, delusional or bipolar disorder, at any time of life.
• DSM-IV diagnosis of brief psychotic episode with a duration of more than one week, at any time time of life, or BLIPS within one week before inclusion.
• DSM-IV diagnosis of delirium, dementia, amnestic and other cognitive disorders, mental retardation, mental disorders due to a general medical condition or mental disturbances due to psychotropic substances.
• Abuse of alcohol or drugs within the last three months prior to the study; exception: cannabis user have to be drug-free during four weeks prior to the study. In case of drug abuse, it has to be determined, whether present prodromal symptoms appeared before any drug abuse; If not, symptoms have to be still present after a drug-free period of 3 months (hallucinogens, amphetamines), or four weeks (cannabis).