The diagnosis and assessment of individuals prodromal for schizophrenic psychosis.

Accurate identification of individuals in the earliest symptomatic stages of psychosis offers new hope for developing more effective treatment strategies. Recently, research clinics have been set up to identify and possibly treat individuals who are seen as being at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic disorder. This article reviews and describes measures that are currently being used and further developed in order to determine both the diagnostic criteria for the prodromal state and the severity of these putatively prodromal symptoms.