This study had five objectives: (a) in a sample of 41 patients with no obvious cause of relapse to determine whether the the following site checklist and review of case notes could determine potential causes of relapse; (b) to determine if any exhibited features of dopamine supersensitivity; (c) to determine if this group differed clinically from the patients not experiencing supersensitivity psychosis; (d) to compare the clinical features of supersensitivity psychosis found in this study to those of the previous study [Fallon and Dursun, 2011]; (e) to use the results of this Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical study to develop further the diagnostic
criteria for supersensitivity psychosis. Methods Study design Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The study consisted of a brief clinical interview with 41 recently relapsed individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective psychosis and at least 2 years of treatment with antipsychotic medication. This consisted of questions about the presence of positive symptoms of psychosis in the domains of hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder, life events, compliance with antipsychotic medication and abstinence from the use of illegal drugs or significant alcohol misuse. It also assessed the presence of abnormal movements in the three main body
areas, that is, facial and oral, trunk and extremities. A review Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of clinical records provided further clinical data at relapse and 1 year follow up. The presence or absence of AIMs was the main independent (grouping) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical variable and the clinical variables were the dependent variables. Data collection The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews using the checklist. Experience with LEDS and SCAN allowed the interview to be conducted in the style of a naturalistic conversation. Psychotic symptoms at relapse were explored in the three domains of hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder. Questions such as ‘do you ever hear voices when there is no
Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical one around’ that are commonly used in clinical practice were used to assess the presence or absence of psychotic symptoms. Questions that concerned life events focused on events that had happened either to the participant or those close to them. They were asked questions related to the 10 LEDS domains of education, work, reproduction, housing, money/possessions, Drug_discovery crime/legal, health, marital/partner relationships, other relationships and miscellaneous, including death. Importantly, positive as well as adverse events arising in these domains were considered to be of find more information aetiological significance and so patients were asked to identify positive events as well. The date of relapse was established at interview and later corroborated by care co-ordinators and clinical records.