TY - JOUR

T1 - Ten-Year Follow-up of the OPUS Specialized Early Intervention Trial for Patients With a First Episode of Psychosis

AU - Secher, Rikke Gry

AU - Hjorthøj, Carsten

AU - Austin, Stephen F

AU - Thorup, Anne

AU - Jeppesen, Pia

AU - Mors, Ole

AU - Nordentoft, Merete

N1 - © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Specialized early intervention programs such as The Danish OPUS treatment are efficient in treating patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) at least after 2 and 5 years. Few studies have examined long-term outcomes of these interventions.AIM: To examine the effect of 2 years of OPUS vs treatment as usual (TAU) within an FEP cohort, 10 years after inclusion into the OPUS trial.METHODS: From 1998 to 2000, participants were randomized to OPUS or TAU. Ten years later, we conducted comprehensive interviews and performed register-based follow-up on all participants in national Danish registers. We analyzed participants according to the intention-to-treat principle.RESULTS: Of the 547 participants included in the study, 347 (63.4%) took part in this follow-up. While there was evidence of a differential 10-year course in the development of negative symptoms, psychiatric bed days, and possibly psychotic symptoms in favor of OPUS treatment, differences were driven by effects at earlier follow-ups and had diminished over time. Statistically significant differences in the course of use of supported housing were present even after 8-10 years. There were no differences between OPUS and TAU regarding income, work-related outcomes, or marital status.CONCLUSION: Most of the positive short-term effects of the OPUS intervention had diminished or vanished at this long-term follow-up. We observed a clear tendency that OPUS treatment leads to fewer days in supported housing. There is a need for further studies investigating if extending the intervention will improve outcomes more markedly at long-term follow-ups.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Specialized early intervention programs such as The Danish OPUS treatment are efficient in treating patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) at least after 2 and 5 years. Few studies have examined long-term outcomes of these interventions.AIM: To examine the effect of 2 years of OPUS vs treatment as usual (TAU) within an FEP cohort, 10 years after inclusion into the OPUS trial.METHODS: From 1998 to 2000, participants were randomized to OPUS or TAU. Ten years later, we conducted comprehensive interviews and performed register-based follow-up on all participants in national Danish registers. We analyzed participants according to the intention-to-treat principle.RESULTS: Of the 547 participants included in the study, 347 (63.4%) took part in this follow-up. While there was evidence of a differential 10-year course in the development of negative symptoms, psychiatric bed days, and possibly psychotic symptoms in favor of OPUS treatment, differences were driven by effects at earlier follow-ups and had diminished over time. Statistically significant differences in the course of use of supported housing were present even after 8-10 years. There were no differences between OPUS and TAU regarding income, work-related outcomes, or marital status.CONCLUSION: Most of the positive short-term effects of the OPUS intervention had diminished or vanished at this long-term follow-up. We observed a clear tendency that OPUS treatment leads to fewer days in supported housing. There is a need for further studies investigating if extending the intervention will improve outcomes more markedly at long-term follow-ups.

KW - Adult

KW - Community Mental Health Services

KW - Denmark

KW - Early Medical Intervention

KW - Female

KW - Follow-Up Studies

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Outcome Assessment (Health Care)

KW - Psychotic Disorders

KW - Registries

KW - Schizophrenia

KW - Time Factors

U2 - 10.1093/schbul/sbu155

DO - 10.1093/schbul/sbu155

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25381449

VL - 41

SP - 617

EP - 626

JO - Schizophrenia Bulletin

JF - Schizophrenia Bulletin

SN - 0586-7614

IS - 3

ER -