ITAREPS: information technology aided relapse prevention programme in schizophrenia.

ITAREPS presents a mobile phone-based telemedicine solution for weekly remote patient monitoring and disease management in schizophrenia and psychotic disorders in general. The programme provides health professionals with home telemonitoring via a PC-to-phone SMS platform that identifies prodromal symptoms of relapse, to enable early intervention and prevent unnecessary hospitalizations. Its web-based interface offers the authorized physician a longitudinal analysis of the dynamics and development of possible prodromes. This work presents preliminary findings from a one-year mirror-design follow-up evaluation of the programme's clinical effectiveness in 45 patients with psychotic illness. There was a statistically significant 60% decrease in the number of hospitalizations during the mean 283.3+/-111.9 days of participation in the ITAREPS, compared to the same time period before the ITAREPS entry (sign test, p<0.004). Variables significantly influencing the number of hospitalizations after the ITAREPS entry (medication compliance along with factors intrinsic to the ITAREPS, i.e. adherence to the programme and involvement of a family member) suggest a critical role of the programme in controlling the number of relapses and subsequent hospitalizations in psychosis.