Pearls

Prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia: What to look for

Current Psychiatry. 2023 March;22(3):46-48 | doi: 10.12788/cp.0336

References

1. George M, Maheshwari S, Chandran S, et al. Understanding the schizophrenia prodrome. Indian J Psychiatry. 2017;59(4):505-509.

2. Yung AR, McGorry PD. The prodromal phase of first-episode psychosis: past and current conceptualizations. Schizophr Bull. 1996;22(2):353-370.

3. Yung AR, Yuen HP, McGorry PD, et al. Mapping the onset of psychosis: the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005;39(11-12):964-971.

4. Miller TJ, McGlashan TH, Rosen JL, et al. Prodromal assessment with the structured interview for prodromal syndromes and the scale of prodromal symptoms: predictive validity, interrater reliability, and training to reliability. Schizophr Bull. 2003;29(4):703-715.

5. Loewy RL, Pearson R, Vinogradov S, et al. Psychosis risk screening with the Prodromal Questionnaire--brief version (PQ-B). Schizophr Res. 2011;129(1):42-46.

6. Nieman DH, McGorry PD. Detection and treatment of at-risk mental state for developing a first psychosis: making up the balance. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2(9):825-834.

7. Raballo A, Nelson B, Thompson A, et al. The comprehensive assessment of at-risk mental states: from mapping the onset to mapping the structure. Schizophr Res. 2011;127(1-3):107-114.

8. Fusar-Poli P, Bonoldi I, Yung AR, et al. Predicting psychosis: meta-analysis of transition outcomes in individuals at high clinical risk. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;69(3):220-229.

9. Cannon TD. How schizophrenia develops: cognitive and brain mechanisms underlying onset of psychosis. Trends Cogn Sci. 2015;19(12):744-756.

10. Castle DJ. Is it appropriate to treat people at high-risk of psychosis before first onset? - no. Med J Aust. 2012;196(9):557.

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12. Nelson B, Yung AR. Can clinicians predict psychosis in an ultra high risk group? Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2010;44(7):625-630.

13. Schultze-Lutter F, Michel C, Schmidt SJ, et al. EPA guidance on the early detection of clinical high risk states of psychoses. Eur Psychiatry. 2015;30(3):405-416.

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Schizophrenia is characterized by psychotic symptoms that typically follow a prodromal period of premonitory signs and symptoms that appear before the manifestation of the full-blown syndrome. Signs and symptoms during the prodromal phase are subsyndromal, which implies a lower degree of intensity, duration, or frequency than observed when the patient meets the full criteria for the syndrome. Early detection of prodromal symptoms can improve prognosis, but these subtle symptoms may go unrecognized.

In schizophrenia, a patient may exhibit prodromal signs and symptoms before the appearance of pathognomonic symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganization. The schizophrenia prodrome can be conceptualized as a period of prepsychotic disturbances depicting an alteration in the individual’s behavior and perception. Prodromal symptoms can last from weeks to years before the psychotic illness clinically manifests.¹ The prodromal symptom cluster typically becomes evident during adolescence and young adulthood.²

In the mid-1990s, investigators tried to identify a “putative prodrome” for psychosis. The term “at-risk mental state” (ARMS) for psychosis is based on retrospective reports of prodromal symptoms in first-episode psychosis. Over the next 2 decades, scales such as the Comprehensive Assessment of ARMS (CAARMS)³ and the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndrome⁴ were designed to enhance the objectivity and diagnostic accuracy of the ARMS. These scales have reasonable interrater reliability.⁵

Researchers also have attempted to stage the severity of ARMS.⁶ Key symptom group predictors were studied to determine which individual symptoms or cluster of symptoms are most associated with poor outcomes and progression to psychosis. Raballo et al⁷ found the severity of the CAARMS disorganization dimension was the strongest predictor of transition to frank psychosis. Other research suggests that approximately one-third of ARMS patients transition to psychosis within 3 years, another one-third have persistent attenuated psychotic symptoms, and the remaining one-third experience symptom remission.^8,9

Despite multiple studies and meta-analyses, current scales and clinical predictors continue to be imperfect.⁸ Efforts to identify specific biological markers and predictors of transition to clinical psychosis have not been successful for ARMS.^10,11 The Table^8,9,12,13 summarizes diagnostic criteria that have been developed to more clearly identify which ARMS patients face the highest imminent risk for transition to psychosis; these have been referred to as ultra high-risk (UHR) criteria.¹⁴ These UHR criteria depict 3 categories of clinical presentation believed to confer risk of transition to psychosis: attenuated psychotic symptoms, transient psychotic symptoms, and genetic predisposition. Subsequent research found that certain additional symptom variables, as well as combinations of specific symptom clusters, conferred increased risk and improved the positive predictive sensitivity to as high as 83%.¹⁵ In addition to the UHR criteria, the Table^8,9,12,13 also lists these additional variables shown to confer a high positive predictive value (PPV) of transition, alone or in combination with the UHR criterion. Thompson et al¹⁶ provide more detailed information on these later variables and their relative PPV.

What about treatment?

While discussion of the optimal treatment options for patients with prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia is beyond the scope of this article, early interventions can focus on preventing the biological, psychological, and social disruption that results from such symptoms. Establishing a therapeutic alliance with the patient while they retain insight and engaging supportive family members is a key starting point. Case management, cognitive-behavioral or supportive therapy, and treatment of comorbid mood, anxiety, or substance use disorders are helpful. There is no clear consensus on the utility of pharmacotherapy in the prodromal stage of psychosis. While scales and structured interviews can guide assessment, clinical judgment is the key driver of the appropriateness of initiating pharmacologic treatment to address symptoms. Because up to two-thirds of patients who satisfy UHR criteria do not go on to develop schizophrenia,¹⁶ clinicians should be thoughtful about the risks and benefits of antipsychotics.