Early detection and intervention in schizophrenia: research.

The data supporting early detection and intervention are preliminary but suggestive enough to warrant further research. Overall, we need to focus greater attention on the early course of schizophrenia, including defining and describing early course, detecting cases early at onset or in the prodrome, testing whether early detection and treatment enhances treatment response and prognosis, and predicting at-risk cases early in the prodromal phase. Designs to address these questions are presented, and relevant issues are discussed, including study aims and hypotheses, definitions and measures of early phases and caseness, detection (and early detection), treatment interventions, dependent and independent variables, and ethical issues. The technical challenges of this research are substantial, but the potential gains for our understanding of schizophrenia and treatment make the effort compelling.