Employment, education or training status (NEET) at baseline predicts high-threshold symptomatic remission in first episode psychosis: A cohort study.

Aim: Clinical studies following a first episode of psychosis (FEP) have increasingly exposed the complexity of identifying predictive outcome variables. We aimed to explore the utility of NEET status (not in education, employment or training) at FEP onset in predicting high threshold clinical remission (absence of positive symptoms and off antipsychotic medication for 6 months) at 3 years following treatment with an early intervention for psychosis service.

Methods: We studied an established retrospective naturalistic cohort of 354 patients with FEP (the S1P cohort).

Results: Baseline NEET status was identified in 172 patients (49%) and was significantly associated with mean duration of untreated psychosis (p = .035). Only 64 (21%) achieved defined remission criteria by 3 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed baseline NEET status as the only variable significantly associated with remission status (p < .001).

Conclusion: NEET may represent an important predictive variable of symptomatic outcomes which requires prospective evaluation.