Treatment costs and clinical outcome for first episode schizophrenia patients: a 3‐year follow‐up of the Swedish ‘Parachute Project’ and Two Comparison Groups

Abstract

Objective:  To evaluate ‘need‐specific treatment’ of first episode schizophrenia syndrome patients.Method:  Sixty‐one consecutive first episode schizophrenia syndrome patients were followed over 3 years. They were compared with a Historical ‘treatment as usual’ group (n = 41) and a Prospective group from a high quality social and biological psychiatry centre (n = 25).Results:  Symptomatic and functional outcome was significantly better compared with the Historical group and equal with the Prospective group. During the first year, the direct costs for in‐ and out‐patient care per patient in the Parachute project were less than half of those in the Prospective group.Conclusion:  The study confirms the feasibility, clinically and economically, with a large scale application of ‘need‐specific treatments’ for first episode psychotic patients.