# Using mHealth to optimize pharmacotherapy regimens

> **NIH NIH P50** · NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC · 2021 · $160,849

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – PROJECT 3
Comprehensive early treatment of individuals experiencing schizophrenia has the potential to alter the course
of illness and improve long-term outcomes. Psychotropic medications are a critical component of early
treatment strategies. Because early experiences with medications may have an enduring effect on attitudes
toward medications and adherence, first-episode psychosis (FEP) is a critical time to optimize prescribing. Yet
evidence suggests that prescribing for this population is suboptimal, with many patients receiving higher than
recommended dosages of antipsychotic medications and, for unclear indications, additional psychotropic
medications. A contributing factor to these difficulties is the lack of accurate information about the effects of
medications on symptoms, their side effects, as well as their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional correlates. At
medication management appointments, prescribers typically rely on patients' recollection of how they were
doing over periods of weeks. Such retrospective assessments are problematic as they are vulnerable to the
influence of memory difficulties and cognitive biases. To address these issues, this project will use a
smartphone technology to improve medication prescribing for individuals with FEP. We will collect real-time
symptom and functioning data via smartphones to provide prescribers and other clinical team members with
clinically relevant and time-sensitive information that will inform and promote shared decision making (SDM)
and personalized interventions. The result will be a time-sensitive, data-driven, collaborative process to
optimize medication regimens in order to maximize benefits, minimize harms, and promote adherence. We will
conduct a pilot study in collaboration with OnTrackNY, an innovative coordinated specialty care (CSC) program
for individuals aged 16-30 who are experiencing FEP. Participants will be randomized to receive the mHealth
intervention or treatment as usual. We will evaluate the feasibility of the intervention and its effects on
treatment satisfaction, functioning, quality of life, symptoms and side effects. This pilot study will provide
feasibility data for a full-scale effectiveness study. It will generate an mHealth intervention that explicitly
incorporates patient input, is scalable, and leads to improved, data-driven psychopharmacologic treatment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10077406
- **Project number:** 5P50MH115843-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS SCOTT STROUP
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $160,849
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10077406

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10077406, Using mHealth to optimize pharmacotherapy regimens (5P50MH115843-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10077406. Licensed CC0.

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