INTREPID II is an international research programme on schizophrenia and other psychoses, which is being conducted in Chennai (India), Ibadan (Nigeria) and Trinidad. The programme is a collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London (UK), the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (India), the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), the University of the West Indies – St Augustine campus (Trinidad), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK). This research is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and builds on INTREPID I, a pilot study funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Together, the two phases of the INTREPID programme are designed to:
a) Develop robust and comparable methods for the study of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders in diverse settings, including establishing an extensive network of providers and key informants to help provide comprehensive estimates of incidence and follow up individuals with psychotic disorders (INTREPID I: completed); and
b) Implement these methods in a three-country study of the incidence, phenomenology, aetiology, outcomes and comorbidity of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (INTREPID II: in progress).
The overall aim of the current five-year research programme (INTREPID II) is to investigate the variability - in incidence, presentation, outcome, and impact - of psychotic disorders in diverse settings. The programme consists of four inter-connected studies, designed to investigate:
(1) the incidence and presentation of untreated psychotic disorders in each site and associated risk factors;
(2) the 2-year course and outcome of psychotic disorders and associated factors;
(3) help-seeking and impact of psychotic disorders on individuals and families, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches;
(4) the types and prevalence of physical health problems and related risk markers.
More information can be found on our website, www.intrepidresearch.org. We are always keen to develop collaborations and would be pleased to hear from colleagues conducting research on schizophrenia and psychotic disorders around the world.
