The C'JAAD: a French team for early intervention in psychosis in Paris.

AIM: The aim is to describe a centre operating in Paris that pioneers the early intervention for young people at the onset and at high risk of psychosis in France.

METHODS: Comprehensive descriptive analysis of different clinical and service measures is used in describing the implementation of the C'JAAD (Evaluation Centre for Young Adults and Adolescents) using data from an ongoing prospective non-interventional research programme.

RESULTS: Over a 2-year period, 151 patients were referred to the C'JAAD and included in the ICAAR research programme. After evaluation by the Comprehensive Assessment of the At-Risk Mental States Scale, 53.7% were identified at risk of developing a psychosis, 20.6% presented a full-blown psychosis and 25.7% were considered not at risk of developing a psychosis. A total of 84% of the at-risk subjects suffered from a psychiatric co-morbidity, of which anxiodepressive symptoms being the most frequent (39%). The global functioning of these at-risk subjects was seriously impaired (average Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale score = 48.9). More than one third of the patients was self-referred (33.8%), 22.5% were addressed by a psychiatrist whereas 10.6% were referred by a general practitioner.

CONCLUSIONS: In this paper, we report for the first time the activities of the C'JAAD, the pioneer unit in France for early detection and treatment of young adults with early psychosis. These observations indicate that such early intervention centre is a feasible and sustainable extension of traditional care for people with mental disorders in this country and offers promising perspective for the development of further centres.