Research Article Long-Acting Injectable Second-Generation Antipsychotics Improve Negative Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation in Recent Diagnosed Schizophrenia Patients: A 1-Year Follow-up Pilot Study Valentina Corigliano , 1 Anna Comparelli , 1 Iginia Mancinelli, 1 Benedetta Montalbani, 1 Dorian A. Lamis , 2 Antonella De Carolis, 3 Denise Erbuto, 1 Paolo Girardi, 1 and Maurizio Pompili 1 1 Department of Neurosciences, Unit of Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, School of Medicine and Psychology, Via di Grottarossa 1035-39, 00198 Rome, Italy 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory School of Medicine, Grady Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA 3 Department of Neurosciences, Unit of Neurology, Sapienza University of Rome, School of Medicine and Psychology, Via di Grottarossa 1035-39, 00198 Rome, Italy Correspondence should be addressed to Anna Comparelli; anna.comparelli@uniroma1.it Received 30 May 2018; Revised 31 July 2018; Accepted 14 August 2018; Published 30 August 2018 Academic Editor: Hugo Schnack Copyright © 2018 Valentina Corigliano et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Long-acting injectable second-generation antipsychotics (LAI-SGA) are typically used to maintain treatment adherence in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Recent research suggests that they may also provide an efective treatment strategy for patients with early-phase disease. Te aim of this study is to evaluate clinical and psychosocial outcomes among recent and long-term diagnosed schizophrenia outpatients treated with LAI-SGA during a follow-up period of 12 months. Stable schizophrenia patients receiving LAI-SGA with 5 or less years of illness duration (n = 10) were compared to those with more than 5 years of illness duration (n = 15). Clinical data was assessed through the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), the Recovery Style Questionnaire (RSQ), and the Mayer- Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) Managing Emotion branch. Recently diagnosed patients showed greater improvement versus patients diagnosed for more than 5 years in adjusted mean GAF score, in PANSS factor score for negative and depressive symptoms, and in severity and intensity of suicidal ideation. Our preliminary fndings support the hypothesis that LAI-SGA may infuence the course of the illness if administered at the early phase of the illness. However, replicate studies are needed, possibly with larger samples. 1. Introduction Schizophrenia poses a signifcant burden to the patient, caregiver, and society in general. Additionally, mostly due to suicide deaths, patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have their life expectancy reduced by approximately 10 years [1]. Much of the deterioration in schizophrenia occurs within the frst 5 years of disease onset [2], suggesting that the early stages are a critical period for efective treatment. Treatment for schizophrenia aims to reduce the severity of symptoms, prevent the recurrence of episodes, and provide support to allow for an appropriate level of functioning. Given that up to half of patients sufering from schizophrenia may not take their medications as prescribed, treatment adherence is a major challenge [3], with serious consequences on the course of the illness [4–6]. Nonadherence is of particular signifcance to patients in the early phases of psychosis. As the disease progresses, deterioration in treatment responsiveness Hindawi Schizophrenia Research and Treatment Volume 2018, Article ID 4834135, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4834135