Assessment of functional recovery in patients with schizophrenia, with a focus on early-phase disease: results from a Delphi consensus and narrative review.

Background: Treatment of schizophrenia has traditionally aimed for symptomatic remission without addressing many daily problems patients face. Although no standard definition of functional recovery in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and early-phase (EP) schizophrenia exists in the literature, most clinicians consider it a useful concept in daily practice. We conducted a Delphi panel to develop expert consensus on assessing functional recovery in FEP and EP schizophrenia patients and defining its domains, which we compared with currently available patient- and clinician-reported outcome measures (PROMs, CROMs).

Methods: The three-stage modified Delphi panel consisted of a 1:1 interview round and two online survey rounds involving five expert steering committee and 16 panel members. We conducted a narrative review of the literature in PubMed to identify instruments assessing functioning in people with schizophrenia.

Results: Panelists were presented with 38 statements about functional recovery (definition, domains, and assessment) and approaches to achieving it. Panelists defined functional recovery for FEP and EP schizophrenia patients as a multidimensional state closely related to quality of life. When evaluating functional recovery, panelists agreed that assessing (1) depression, (2) aggressive behavior, (3) social interaction, (4) family functioning, (5) education and/or employment, (6) leisure activities, (7) self-care, and (8) sexual functioning was important. Panelists also agreed that asking patients about self-care and sexual functioning was less critical at every encounter. It was agreed that patients may be said to have reached partial functional recovery if they recovered in some but not all domains. There was consensus that long-acting injectable antipsychotics can facilitate functional recovery by increasing treatment adherence, lessening disease and treatment burden, and reducing functional decline. The literature review identified eight PROMs and CROMs that assess functioning in schizophrenia. However, none evaluated all eight domains of functional recovery.

Conclusions: Functional recovery is an important treatment goal in FEP and EP patients. PROMs and CROMs do not evaluate all eight domains of functional recovery agreed by the Delphi panel. Further research is needed to better understand and improve how functional recovery is assessed in clinical practice.