The results clearly demonstrate the superiority of antipsychotic drugs compared to placebo in preventing relapse. This effect must be weighed against the side effects of antipsychotic drugs. Future studies should focus on outcomes of social participation and clarify the long-term morbidity and mortality associated with these drugs.
Antipsychotic prophylaxis is needed after remission from a first psychotic episode in schizophrenia patients: results from an aborted randomised trial.
To assess the effect of withdrawal of antipsychotic treatment on relapse risk in remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients.
                First-episode 1-year stable and remitted outpatients with a schizophrenic disorder were randomly allocated to continuation of their antipsychotic regimen for at least 6 months (N = 9), or gradual withdrawal (N = 11). Primary outcome was the difference in cumulative relapse-free survival at 9 months.
                Recruitment was terminated prematurely on 26 October 2005. The cumulative relapse-free survival was 88% (SE = 0.12) in the continuation and 18% (SE = 0.12) in the discontinuation group (P = 0.001) at 9 months follow-up.
                Discontinuation of antipsychotic medication markedly increases the risk of relapse in stable remitted first-episode schizophrenia patients. In future studies the topics of safety monitoring and sampling of patients should receive extra attention.