Effectiveness of antipsychotics used in first-episode psychosis: a naturalistic cohort study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: One year of antipsychotic treatment from symptom remission is recommended following a first episode of psychosis (FEP). AIMS: To investigate the effectiveness of commonly used antipsychotic medications in FEP. METHOD: A retrospective cohort study of naturalistic treatment of patients (N=460) accepted by FEP services across seven UK sites. Treatment initiation to all-cause discontinuation determined from case files. RESULTS: Risk of treatment discontinuation is greatest within 3 months of treatment initiation. Risperidone had longest median survival time. No significant differences were observed in time to discontinuation between commonly used antipsychotics on multivariable Cox r..