AT ISSUE - TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE - THE SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENT OUTCOMES RESEARCH TEAM (PORT) TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Beginning in 1992, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the National Institute of Mental Health funded the Schizophrenia Patie nt Outcomes Research Team (PORT) to develop and disseminate recommenda tions for the treatment of schizophrenia based on existing scientific evidence. These Treatment Recommendations, presented here in final for m for the first time, are based on exhaustive reviews of the treatment outcomes literature (previously published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1995) and focus on those treatments for which there is substantial evidence of efficacy. The recommendations address antipsy chotic agents, adjunctive pharmacotherapies, electroconvulsive therapy , psychological interventions, family interventions, vocational rehabi litation, and assertive community treatment/intensive case management. Support for each recommendation is referenced to the previous PORT li terature reviews, and the recommendations are rated according to the l evel of supporting evidence. The PORT Treatment Recommendations provid e a basis for moving toward ''evidence-based'' practice for schizophre nia and identify both the strengths and limitations in our current kno wledge base.