Applying advanced psychometrics to antipsychotic treatment trials: A protocol comparing effect estimates

List of Authors

  1. Timo Schurr ,  
  2. Fiona Boland
    ,  
  3. David Byrne
    ,  
  4. Frank Doyle
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Abstract

Background

Antipsychotic trials in schizophrenia quantify treatment efficacy using clinician-rated scales such as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). If these scales include redundant or weakly informative items, measurement noise can blur drug-comparator differences that may dilute real effect sizes. Modern psychometric methods can refine and re-weight symptom scores that may improve precision and potentially increase detectable treatment effects, although it is unclear which approaches might be best.

Aims

To 1) determine best psychometric models for the PANSS and BPRS, and 2) test whether psychometrically-informed scoring of PANSS/BPRS alters estimated antipsychotic effect sizes compared with conventional total-score analyses, and 3) to explore whether any changes differ across symptom domains and by sex.

Method

We will conduct secondary analyses of anonymised individual participant data from randomized Phase II–IV schizophrenia trials accessed via secure data-sharing platforms (YODA Project and Vivli). Item-level PANSS/BPRS data will be harmonised at baseline and outcome. Psychometric models will be derived using confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory, and network analysis. Stability and invariance analyses will be conducted, examining covariates such as age and sex. Antipsychotic efficacy will be estimated using mixed-effects participant-level models, expressed as Cohen’s d standardised mean differences (SMDs) for both conventional and psychometrically-informed outcomes. The primary outcome will be the difference in SMDs between conventional and psychometrically-informed effect sizes, summarised across trials.

Conclusions

This study will determine whether best practice psychometric refinement of existing measures meaningfully changes antipsychotic effect size estimates, informing outcome measurement choices and interpretation of trial results.

Corresponding author
Timo Schurr
0000-0002-6757-7862
Grant information

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101209817 (rEVealIng Drug Effects when applyiNg psychomeTrics In schizophreniA triaLs [EVIDENTIAL]).

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright
© 2026 Timo Schurr (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Fiona Boland (Co-Author); David Byrne (Co-Author); Frank Doyle (Co-Author) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Authors & roles

Timo Schurr

Department of Health Psychology, School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-6757-7862

Fiona Boland

Data Science Centre, School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Methodology, Project Administration, Software, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

David Byrne

Department of Health Psychology, School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Methodology, Project Administration, Software, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Frank Doyle

Department of Health Psychology, School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Methodology, Project Administration, Software, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

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