Depressed Mood in First Episode Schizophrenia: Findings From a 1-Year Follow-Up in an Italian Real-World Care Setting

Introduction: Depression in schizophrenia is associated with poor outcomes and suicide risk. However, it is overlooked in both research and clinical practice, especially in First Episode Schizophrenia (FES). Methods: In this letter to the editor, we reported relevant findings on relevant comorbid depressed mood in an Italian sample of FES patients during a 1-year follow-up period within an “Early Intervention in Psychosis” (EIP) program. The Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was completed by 159 participant. Results: At baseline, 53 (33.3%) participants showed a relevant depressed mood (as measured with a PANSS “Depression” G6 item subscore of ≥ 5). At entry, a relevant depressed mood was associated with a greater percentage of females and a higher PANSS “Positive Symptoms” score. Across the follow-up, FES individuals improved their depression severity levels. This reduction was significantly related to improvments in positive symptoms levels. Conclusions: Depression is relatively common in FES, already at the recruitment in EIP services. However, its severity decreases overtime within specialized EIP programs.