Sex comparisons on the benefcial efects of an early intervention program in a patients’ cohort with frst episode psychosis: what effectiveness in women?

Purpose Males and females with First Episode Psychosis (FEP) usually tend to difer in psychopathology, clinical presentation and their longitudinal trajectory. This study aimed to examine the diference of efectiveness of specialized psychosocial and pharmacological treatments for FEP, focusing on various clinical and functioning outcomes across a 2-years follow-up period. Methods The assessment included the CAARMS, the HoNOS, the PANSS and the GAF scale and was conducted at baseline and every 12 months. Results 490 FEP patients (age: 12–35 years) were recruited. Of them, 363 completed the follow-up (132 females and 231 males). At baseline, males showed a higher prevalence rate of schizophrenia diagnosis (56.1% VS 43.8%; p=.008), whereas females a higher prevalence rate of afective psychosis (36.2% VS 23.3%; p=.005). Male participants also showed a more consistent substance abuse (46.9% VS 24.3%; p=.0001), lower years of education (11.26±2.94 VS 11.88±2.68; p=.013), and more striking behavioral manifestations (4.06±2.36 VS 3.39±2.58; p=.003) compared to women. Our 2-year outcome parameter results showed a higher incidence of functional remission over time in females compared to males (49.2% VS 39.0%; p=.028), together with a decreasing trend in new hospitalization rates (17.8% VS 26.9%; p=.089). Independently from sex, our results also showed a statistically signifcant reduction in the prescription of psychotropic medications and through the increase of all psychosocial interventions, although more evident in males. Conclusion These results suggested that specialized interventions for FEP are overall efective in both treated subgroups. Additionally, FEP women specifcally showed higher rates of improvement in functional outcome variables over time when compared to males