First-episode schizophrenia Results Study sample The study included 104 male inpatients suffering from first- episode schizophrenia according to ICD-10. Their average age was 23.3 (SD 5.7) years. The mean duration of index hospitalization was 44.5 (SD 15.3) days. The mean length of illness, determined from the time the patients first exhibited illness-related behavioral symptoms, was 0.77 (SD 1.0) years. Twenty-eight patients were treated with classical antipsychotics, 64 with risperidone, and 12 with other second generation antipsychotics (atypicals). The mean dose of risperidone was 3.7 (SD 1.2) mg or 218.4 (SD 93) mg chlorpromazine equivalents daily (Woods 2003). Psychopathology and treatment responsiveness Psychopathology on admission, discharge, and during treatment is shown in Table 1. Scores for all symptoms decreased significantly before discharge, on average 44 days after admission. We identified 76 responders and 28 nonresponders. In a categorical analysis of response rate, the proportion of study subjects responding at discharge was 73%; and 74% of patients fulfilled the criteria of remission. On admission, responders compared with nonresponders had significantly higher scores of 21 individual items out of 30 items (NS difference, P3 hallucinatory behavior, P5 Table 1 Psychopathology according to the PANSS in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (n = 104) Admission mean SD mean Discharge SD p-values Admission presence (%) Discharge presence (%) 77.0 64.7% 59.3 28.3 25.7 82.3 16.8 44.3 62 46 57.5 64.6 52.2 64.6 31.8 38 24.8 27.4 23.9 30 37.2 32.8 53.0 27.4 70 87.6 65.4 19.9 60 64 9.7 13.3 9.7 8 20.6 20.6 8 22.1 21.2 15.9 19.5 17:7 14.1 18.6 11.5 8.8 12.4 8.8 11.5 14.2 17.7 8.8 8 8 15 55.7 21.2 8 15.9 11.5 181 Measure P1 delusions P2 conceptual disorganization P3 hallucinatory behavior P4 excitement P5 grandiosity P6 suspiciousness/persecutions P7 hostility Positive subscale PANSS N1 blunted affect N2 emotional withdrawal N3 poor rapport N4 passive/apathetic social withdrawal N5 difficulty in abstract thinking N6 lack of spontaneity and flow of conversation N7 stereotyped thinking Negative subscale PANSS G1 somatic concern G2 anxiety G3 guilt feelings G4 tension G5 mannerisms and posturing G6 depression G7 motor retardation G8 uncooperativeness G9 unusual thought content G10 disorientation G11 poor attention G12 lack of judgment and insight G13 disturbance of volition G14 poor impulse control G15 preoccupation G16 active social avoidance General subscale PANSS Total score PANSS 4.5 3.9 3.5 2.5 1.9 4.4 1.8 22.5 3.3 3.8 3.6 3.8 4.2 3.5 3.9 26.1 2.6 2.9 1.9 2.8 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.5 2.0 4.1 4.8 3.8 1.9 3.8 3.7 48.1 96.7 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.3 6.5 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.4 8.8 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.4 11.7 22.4 NOTE: symptom presence – score minimally 4 for individual items; NS – significant level > 0.1. Abbreviations: PANSS, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2005:1(2) 1.6 1.8 1.2 1.2 1.3 2.1 1.1 10.3 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.4 17.2 1.7 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.2 1.2 1.8 1.0 2.6 3.4 2.6 1.1 2.3 2.2 30.0 57.6 0.9 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.3 3.3 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.0 6.0 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.8 1.0 1.0 0.4 1.0 1.0 8.0 15.1 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 0.0038 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 0.014 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001