What is already known on this topic?

Improving recovery (ie, sustained symptomatic and functional remission) remains a challenge in the treatment of schizophrenia. Evidence suggests that the median recovery rate for schizophrenia is 13.5%.1 Improving our understanding of predictors of recovery, particularly from first-episode psychosis (FEP), could enable better specification of treatment approaches relevant to individual presentation and illness stage. The OPUS trial is one of the largest prospective cohort studies of individuals receiving treatment for FEP to date. Participants were recruited from the community and received either a specialised assertive outreach approach for FEP or treatment as usual.

What this paper adds?

• At 10-year follow-up, 25% of individuals displayed sustained positive and negative symptomatic remission, with 14% of the sample achieving full functional and symptomatic recovery. These data are broadly consistent with existing recovery rates.2

• After controlling for associations between predictors, lower levels of negative symptoms and younger age predicted recovery at 10-year follow-up. This suggests that accurate early identification of psychosis in young adults …