Impact of a Specialized Early Psychosis Treatment Programme on Suicide. Retrospective Cohort Study

A population-based, retrospective cohort study of 7760 individuals with psychotic disorder, aged 15-29 years at first contact with mental health services, was done. Suicides were identified by linking the psychiatric register to a coronial register of unnatural deaths. The principal hypothesis, that suicide risk over the entire follow-up period would be significantly lower for those who received specialized early treatment compared with those who did not, was not supported. However, a secondary analysis found that after adjusting for other sociodemographic, clinical & treatment factors, suicide risk was 50% lower in the first 3 years following first contact among those exposed to specialized treatment compared with those who were not. (38 refs.)