Below you will find the abstract of “Trajectories of suicidal risk among individuals with first-episode psychosis: Relationship to recovery and symptoms,” published in the August 2024 issue of psychiatry by Wastler et al.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The suicide rate in these patients is approximately 12-20 times higher than in the general population.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study examining different patterns of suicide risk in individuals with first episode psychosis (FEP) and how these patterns relate to other clinical factors.

They collected data from the RAISE-ETP study of 404 people with FEP. They conducted assessments of suicide risk, depression, positive symptoms, recovery, and quality of life at five different time points: baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months. The research used latent class analysis to find patterns in suicide risk over time. General linear models for repeated measures were applied to examine the association between these suicide risk patterns and clinical variables.

Results showed that three distinct patterns of suicide risk emerged: low risk, worsening, and improving. Participants in the low risk and improving group showed better scores on depression, positive symptoms, quality of life, and recovery over time. The worsening group improved on positive symptoms and quality of life, but showed no change in depression or recovery.

The researchers concluded that some people with FEP may still experience depression and a higher risk of suicide despite improvements in their positive symptoms and quality of life during treatment, suggesting that these problems may be overlooked in typical FEP clinics.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178124002634