A method was developed to measure the risk of a person of developing psychosis which was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
A new study from Yale yielded a new calculator that can be used in measuring psychosis risk. The accuracy of the said calculator is as accurate as predicting cancer and heart disease using prognosis.
Psychosis is a psychological disease that is characterized by a damaged perception of reality. This can lead to a serious mental disorder. People who suffers with psychosis may have delusions or hallucinations. Hallucinations include hearing or seeing things that are not present in reality. Delusions, on the other hand, are thoughts that are opposite of what is really happening in reality. Also, people who have psychosis may experience social withdrawal and loss of motivation, Healthline reported.
The newly developed risk calculator can be used after a person experiences symptoms or early warning signs of schizophrenia. Symptoms include hearing of voices even though there is nobody else around. This new calculator can be used in the medical field.
Presently, those who inquire medically for feedback and advice after schizophrenia episodes ae told that the risk of developing psychosis is only about 15% to 25%. Tyrone Cannon, principal investigator of the research and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Yale said that this tool can help doctors give a better assessment of these early experiences of schizophrenia, Yale News reported.
In collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic investigators, Cannon's team analyzed 596 data with subjects from eight trial sites who were diagnosed with APS (Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome). These individuals have only had changes in their perception recently and they recognize that their thoughts are not based on reality. Therefore, these subjects does not quality as psychotic because they do not meet the definition of psychosis. Through this, they have developed a new calculator that analyzes the risks factor for schizophrenia.
Considered in calculating the risks involves the age when the subject first experienced the symptoms. The individuals who experienced the symptoms earlier are most likely to develop psychosis.
Cannon stressed out that the trained professional's ability to evaluate the patient is the main factor that affects the accuracy of the calculator.
The said research was funded by the National Institutes for Health.
