Patient satisfaction with treatment in first-episode psychosis ULRIK HAAHR, ERIK SIMONSEN, JAN IVAR RØSSBERG, JAN OLAV JOHANNESSEN, T.K. LARSEN, INGRID MELLE, STEIN OPJORDSMOEN, BJØRN RISHOVD RUND, PER VAGLUM, SVEIN FRIIS, THOMAS MCGLASHAN Haahr U, Simonsen E, Røssberg JI, Johannessen JO, Larsen TK, Melle I, Opjordsmoen S, Rund BR, Vaglum P, Friis S, McGlashan T. Patient satisfaction with treatment in first-episode psychosis. Nord J Psychiatry 2012;66:329–335. Purpose: To examine first-episode psychotic patients’ satisfaction with elements of a comprehen- sive 2-year treatment program. Subjects and method: The TIPS (Early Treatment and Interven- tion in Psychosis) project provided a 2-year treatment program consisting of milieu therapy (inpatient), individual psychotherapy, family intervention and medication. Of 140 patients at baseline, 112 were included at 2-year follow-up. Eighty-four participants were interviewed using a questionnaire eliciting levels of satisfaction with different treatment elements at two of the four sites. Results: Participants and non-participants did not differ on demographic or clinical data at baseline. Of those participating, 75% were satisfied with treatment in general. Individual and milieu therapy received higher rating than medication or family intervention. No predictors of general satisfaction with treatment were found, but continuously psychotic patients were the least satisfied with medication treatment. Discussion: As in most patient satisfaction studies within mental health treatment networks, there was high level of general satisfaction with the total package of treatment but considerable variation in satisfaction for specific interventions. In this sample of first-episode psychosis patients, there was general satisfaction with treatments based on one-to-one relationships while multi-family group intervention was consistently valued less enthusiastically. • First episode, Outcome, Patient satisfaction, Psychosis, Treatment. Ulrik Haahr, M.D., Early Psychosis Intervention Center, Psychiatry Roskilde, University of Copenhagen, Smedegade 10, 1, DK 4000 Roskilde, Denmark, E-mail: uhh@regionsjaelland.dk; Accepted 23 November 2011. This paper is part of the TIPS project. From April 1. 2008 the project has the following research group: Thomas McGlashan, M.D. (PI); Svein Friis, M.D. (PI); Julie Evensen, M.D.; Ulrik Haahr, M.D.; Wenche ten Velden Hegelstad, cand. psychol.; Inge Joa RN; Jan Olav Johannessen, M.D.; Hans Langeveld, Ph.D.; Tor K. Larsen, M.D.; Ingrid Melle, M.D.; Stein Opjordsmoen, M.D.; Bjørn Rishovd Rund, Ph.D.; Jan Ivar Røssberg, M.D.; Erik Simonsen, M.D.; Kjetil Sundet, Ph.D.; Per Vaglum M.D. P atient satisfaction with treatment is usually assumed to be important (1), yet seldom becomes a target of specific study. The literature to date is modest in size and variable in findings (2, 3), reflecting the complexity of samples (4, 5) and the chronicity of many of the stud- ied patients (6). Furthermore, “treatment” is not a uni- tary concept but consists of multiple elements such as individual psychotherapy, medication, milieu therapy and family interventions (7). First-episode psychotic (FEP) patients and their fami- lies, in particular, are rarely queried about their satisfac- tion with specific elements of treatment (8–11). Some exceptions stand out. The Danish OPUS project (12, 13) provided an integrated treatment package of intensive community treatment, medication, social skills training and psychoeducational multi-family groups. They mea- sured both patients’ and relatives’ satisfaction with treat- ment using validated instruments. They demonstrated that patients receiving the integrated treatment had significantly better compliance and more satisfaction with treatment over 1- and 2-year follow-up compared with patients ran- domized to receiving treatment as usual, which was far less intensive and outreaching. The Swedish parachute project (4, 14, 15) used an intervention package consisting of intervention without delay (preferably in the patient’ s home), initial structured crisis intervention, immediate and recurrent family meet- ings together with the patient, minimal effective dosing © 2012 Informa Healthcare DOI: 10.3109/08039488.2011.644808 Nord J Psychiatry Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by UBO Bib for Hum og Samfunnsviten on 11/09/12 For personal use only.