A psychotic risk calculator has been developed by researchers, based on the results of a study published in the medical journal American Journal of Psychiatry. As precise as a heart risk calculator, it will allow research to be carried out on treatments for the prevention of psychotic disorders.
Preventing the risks of psychosis and improving treatments
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the United States conducted a study with 596 participants aged 12 to 35 with the syndrome of attenuated psychosis.
Scientists point out that 20 to 35% of people aged 12-35 who have been diagnosed with an attenuated psychosis syndrome will develop a more severe disorder and psychoses in the following 2 years.
Then, they set up a risk calculator taking into account the known risk factors for schizophrenia.
This machine integrated the following symptoms: stressful life events, trauma and family history of schizophrenia, age of onset of symptoms. It also took into account the frequency and type of unusual and worrying thinking, social functioning, verbal learning skills and cognitive processing speed. Further studies will be needed to make the calculator more efficient and also to analyze the environmental context of family and education.
The findings of the study reveal that 16% of the participants had psychosis over the next two years.
“The new risk calculator will provide patients with an individual and personalized assessment of their risk. More accurate information that will also help reduce patient anxiety,” says Dr. Larry J. Seidman, psychologist at BIDMC and professor of psychology at Harvard.
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