Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;153(1-3):60-3.
doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.01.014. Epub 2014 Feb 11.

The impact of substance use at psychosis onset on First Episode Psychosis course: results from a 1 year follow-up study in Bologna

Ilaria Tarricone  1 , Jane Boydell  2 , Serena Panigada  3 , Fabio Allegri  3 , Thomas Marcacci  3 , Maria Gabriella Minenna  4 , Arnisa Kokona  3 , Federico Triolo  3 , Viviana Storbini  3 , Rossella Michetti  4 , Craig Morgan  2 , Marta Di Forti  2 , Robin M Murray  2 , Domenico Berardi  5
Affiliations

The impact of substance use at psychosis onset on First Episode Psychosis course: results from a 1 year follow-up study in Bologna

Ilaria Tarricone et al. Schizophr Res. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Substance abuse is a well established risk factor for First-Episode Psychosis (FEP), but its influence on FEP course is less clear. Starting from our baseline observation that substance users were younger than non-users at the psychosis onset, we hypothesized that substance use at baseline could be an independent risk factor for a worse clinical course.

Methods: An incidence cohort of patients with FEP collected in an 8year period (2002-2009) at the Bologna West Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) was assessed at baseline and at 12month follow-up. Drop-out, hospitalizations and service utilization were used as clinical outcomes.

Results: Most of the patients were still in contact with CMHC at 12month follow up. Substance users had a significantly higher rate of hospitalizations during the follow-up after adjusting for age, gender and other potential confounders (OR 5.84, 95% CI 2.44-13.97, p≤0.001).

Conclusions: This study adds to previous evidence showing the independent effect of substance use on FEP course. The identification of a "potentially modifiable" environmental predictor of the course of the illness such as substance use at psychosis onset allows us to envisage the possibility of ameliorating the course of the illness by managing this factor.

Keywords: First episode psychosis; Psychosis course; Substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer