Polish version of the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS) - description of the tool

In medicine, early disease detection is crucial, as it enables early intervention and increasesthe likelihood of successful treatment. Psychoprophylaxis is directed to persons from the socalled high-risk groups. First episode psychosis is usually preceded by various difficulties in day to day functioning, which due to their non-specific intensity or duration are hard to classify as symptoms of a mental disorder according to available classifications of diseases. There is evidence that using early intervention like elements of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) at that stage could prevent or defer the development of psychosis. Identification of potential recipients of such intervention, however, is difficult, especially without appropriate diagnostic tools. One of the diagnostic methods that could be useful in the daily clinical practice is the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS), which is a partly structured interview of proven predictive value, and also a valid and reliable tool. This paper presents the Polish translation of the tool, which is currently undergoing a full adaptation procedure to ultimately verify its usefulness in research and clinical practice.