Psychiatric News (10/9) reports that a “team of more than 100 international experts in schizophrenia have collaborated in developing a consensus criteria defining relapse.” The recommendations, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, “include minimum and optimum requirements to meet the definition of relapse.” The experts “highlighted the following aspects of the criteria as most important: Use of field-tested, standardized rating instruments; baseline and prospective assessment of symptoms, including a verifiable diagnosis of schizophrenia and at least one acute exacerbation of illness in the past; a period of at least 12 weeks of relative stability with no more than moderate severity of symptoms against which a relapse can be measured;” and “symptom worsening of at least one week duration with an increase in severity measured as an absolute change (as opposed to a percentage change).”
Related Links:
— “International Schizophrenia Experts Develop Consensus Criteria for Relapse, Psychiatric News , October 9, 2025