EXTEND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EXTEND Study: Needs-assessed Care for Early Psychosis
IRAS ID
296691
Contact name
Belinda Lennox
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
An Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service offers treatment in the community to people with a first episode of psychosis. Psychosis is a severe and distressing form of mental illness that causes hallucinations and delusions. EIP offers care that includes medication, talking therapies, education about psychosis, physical health advice, support for families, and regular contact. There are over 150 EIP teams in England who treat over 10,000 new people per year. Research has shown that EIP is effective, that people prefer it to other forms of treatment, and that the service saves money overall.
EIP is meant to be given for three years to everyone. After this time, those who are well are discharged to their GP, while those with ongoing symptoms are transferred to the care of a general community mental health team. People often become unwell at this time of change and might benefit from longer treatment with EIP. We also know that some people who are well could possibly have been discharged back to their GP earlier. We want to develop a more tailored approach based on the needs of each individual and understand the health, social, and cost benefits of this approach.
We will use data from the annual National Clinical Audit of Psychosis that measures aspects of care that individuals receive from every EIP service across England. We will link audit data to routinely collected NHS hospital records. By identifying differences between people who receive longer or shorter EIP treatment, we can explore whether differences in length of EIP care lead to different outcomes. We will also find out how differences in duration of EIP influence the short- and long-term cost-effectiveness of the service.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/0602
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion