Longitudinal treatment outcome of African American and Caucasian patients with first episode psychosis

• Published in: Asian journal of psychiatry Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 266 - 271
• Main Authors: Li, Huijun, Eack, Shaun M, Montrose, Debra M, Miewald, Jean M, Keshavan, Matcheri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-12-2011
• Subjects: African American and Caucasian first episode patients; Internal Medicine; Longitudinal treatment outcome; Psychiatry; African American and Caucasian first episode patients; Longitudinal treatment outcome
• ISSN: 1876-2018; 1876-2026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2011.08.004

Abstract The purpose of our analyses to examine the outcome differences between African American and Caucasian first-episode psychotic patients over the course of one year, to explore the interactive effects of gender, diagnosis, and race on treatment outcome. A consecutive series of patients ( N = 199) were recruited into our study from the inpatient and outpatient services at a psychiatric clinic. Global functioning, positive, negative, affective, and depression symptoms and treatment adherence were assessed at baseline prior to treatment and during follow-up up to one year. African American patients ( N = 62) were found to experience significantly less improvement in symptoms, bizarre behavior, avolition, anhedonia, and functional performance, and affective symptoms than their Caucasian counterparts ( N = 137). In addition, African American female patients experienced less improvement in affective flattening. While both groups of patients have experienced significant improvement during the one-year treatment, that of the African American patients was less optimal.