When do psychiatric interventions work? An argument for using functional outcomes when evaluating the effectiveness of treating schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is known to be a disabling psychiatric condition with wide reaching impact on everyday functioning and outcomes. These functional outcomes include increases in all-cause mortality (especially suicide and injury), cognitive and functional capacity deficits, lower reported levels of quality of life (QoL), increased incarceration, higher risk for violence and victimization, and homelessness. Studies have shown that medications and outpatient services can improve each of these functional outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia. However, most studies of pharmacological treatment utilize rating scales that do not reflect these real-world outcomes. This review looks at available studies focused on real-world outcomes and argues for an expansion of this body of research.