The Danish Region Midt Schizophrenia Cohort

Overview

The objective of this study is to recruit patients at the first diagnosis with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) and ultra-high risk patients (UHR), defined as patients with drug abuse and psychotic symptoms indicating a risk for developing schizophrenia. Thereby, the investigators aim to establish a large representative cohort of patients with a first-episode SSD or patients at UHR, enabling investigations of the etiology and long-term prognosis of SSDs. The primary aim is to learn more about the importance of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the immune system in the etiology and course of schizophrenia. Patients will be followed with planned visits after 1, 2, 3, 12 and 24 months including online questionnaires after 2, 6, 10 and 26 weeks. There will be the possibility to contact patients again for subsequent follow-up visits.

Study design: Cohort study with pre-defined longitudinal follow-up visits. Patients: Patients with a SSD (ICD-10: F20-29) or patients at UHR (ICD: 1\*.5) aged ≥15 years. Sample size: Within the Central Denmark Region (CDR), approximately 700 patients are each year diagnosed with a SSD and 100 with UHR. The investigators will establish recruitment at all psychiatric hospitals in the CDR between January 2024 until June 2025. Our aim is to establish continued recruitment of 100-150 patients/year. Hence, the investigators expect to recruit 300-350 patients during the period 2024-2026. Procedures: Patients will be included within three months of the first SSD or UHR diagnosis at one of the psychiatric hospitals in the CDR. Before inclusion, an interview with the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) interview will validate the diagnosis. At baseline and follow-up visits (details in the full protocol and Table 1), patients will be rated by use of the 6-item Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-6), the Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S), the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Aarhus Side effect Assessment Questionnaire (ASAQ), the "Udvalg for Kliniske Undersøgelser" side effect scale (UKU), and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). Furthermore, patients will fill out the self-reported WHO Adverse Childhood Experience International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Epsworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to measure sleep. The Matrics Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), which consists of 10 cognitive tests, will measure cognition. To measure consciousness, patients will fill out the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and Metacognition Superiority illusion. During the first three months, participants will wear an actigraph to have a proxy measure of activity and sleep. Blood sampling will be performed at baseline and after 3, 12 and 24 months to measure markers of inflammation and to enable genetic and epigenetic analyses. Heart rate, blood pressure, height, body weight, waist and hip circumference will be recorded. Patients will be treated according to clinical indication, i.e., they will receive routine clinical care at the local psychiatric hospital and participation in this study will not affect the treatment. Patients can be included in this study independent of whether they are treated with psychotropic drugs or not. Follow-up: Patients will be treated and followed according to normal clinical treatment guidelines at the local psychiatric hospitals, which will not be affected by participation in the RMS cohort. Patients will have follow-up visits for the RMS study after 1, 2, 3, 12 and 24 months after the individual inclusion date and fill out online questionnaires after 2, 6, 10, and 26 weeks. Endpoints: The primary endpoint is the correlation between ACEs and inflammatory markers measured at baseline with the change on PANSS-6 from baseline to follow-up visits. Key secondary endpoints include changes in genetic, epigenetics, cognition, PSQI and ISI. Additional secondary endpoints include changes in ASAQ, UKU, SQLS, CDSS, GAF, CGI-S, body weight, hip and waist circumference, blood pressure, and heart rate. For patients enrolled in the study, all endpoints will initially be collected and several repeated during the study duration. Safety: Patients will follow treatment-as-usual at their local hospital, with the clinicians from the local hospital being responsible for safety monitoring according to local treatment guidelines. Blood sample results will be obtained from the patient's medical record (MidtEPJ) at the study visits to monitor biochemical safety parameters for medical treatment. Between follow-up visits for the RMS cohort, patients will follow guideline-based safety monitoring at the local psychiatric hospital. Study duration: Continuous. The investigators aim to establish continuous recruitment and that all patients with a first-episode SSD or UHR diagnosis fulfilling inclusion criteria will be offered participation in the RMS Cohort.