Program ITAREPS was developed for rapid and targeted recognition of early warning signs of psychotic disorder relapse. It employs modern communication and information technology for timely intervention during initial phase of relapse. The patient and the family member participating in the project complete weekly a 10-item Early Warning Signs Questionnaire - EWSQ (Patient Version and Family Member Version). The result, 10 numbers, are sent by both of them through Short Message Service (SMS) from their mobile phones to the ITAREPS phone number. If the score in the questionnaire of the individual patient exceeds arbitrary chosen value, an ALERT message is automatically sent to psychiatrist's e-mail address. If ITAREPS signals presence of early warning signs in given patient, an Early Intervention Algorithm is recommended. Psychiatrist participating in the project have an access to his/her personal webpage that is a part of the ITAREPS website (www.itareps.com). On the personal pages psychiatrist can find a current score of the EWSQ for each of his/her patients and family members in a visual form as a line chart and a written description of a patient's clinical status during last month.

This article describes our one-year clinical experience with the development and use of an automated instrument to incorporate technology for long term detection of early warning sings of schizophrenia relapse.