Harmonizing Clinical Data Collection in Community-Based Treatment Programs for First-Episode Psychosis » Appendix

Key Features of First Episode Psychosis (FEP) and Important Aspects of FEP Course and Recovery

Summary of Key FEP Features

• Characteristic symptoms fluctuate over time
  • Positive, negative, and disorganized
  • Anxiety and depression
• Varying insight or awareness of illness/health
• Increased risk for suicide, violence (esp. if untreated)
• Impaired cognition (attention, working memory)
  • Performance on objective tests
  • Subjective experience of cognitive abilities
• Interpersonal functioning
  • Social networks outside the family
  • Relationships with immediate family members, significant others
• Instrumental role functioning
  • Self-care, school, and work

For Consideration: Important Aspects of FEP Course and Recovery

• Age of onset, duration of untreated psychosis
• Pathways to Coordinated Specialty Care
  • Contacts with police, incarceration
  • Crisis intervention, emergency department episodes
  • Number and length of inpatient hospitalizations
• Medical and psychiatric co-morbidities
  • Risk factors for cardiovascular disease (e.g., cigarette smoking, weight gain, blood pressure, sedentary, lifestyle, etc.)
  • Alcohol and/or substance misuse
• Service user’s satisfaction with treatment, subjective experience of stigma, recovery, and well-being
• Time to second episode of psychosis