Most psychosis research studies exclude majority of real patients
A Swedish study reveals that only 39% of first-episode psychosis patients would qualify for typical neurobiology research, raising serious questions about whether findings apply to actual patient populations. The excluded patients had worse outcomes, suggesting research may be missing the sickest cases—a critical gap for clinical trials and mental health policy.
Originaltitel: Generalizability of findings from neurobiological studies of individuals with first-episode psychosis: a cohort study
Using Swedish register data, we estimated the proportion of individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP) who would be eligible to participate in a typical neurobiological study and found that only 39% met criteria. Eligible and ineligible individuals differed on sociodemographic variables and two-year outcome measures (inpatient admission, work disability). Our findings suggest that neurobiological studies may yield samples that are not fully representative of the wider FEP population, potentially limiting generalisability.