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ABSTRACT Background: To scale up the services for first-episode schizophrenia in Thailand, it is essential to understand to what extent health care-seeking is delayed, and how much the delay affects the treatment outcome. Objectives: To investigate the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and its impact on remission in first-episode schizophrenia across the country. Methods: 276 outpatients with a first-episode schizophrenia were followed for 6 months and assessed whether they fulfilled the criteria for remission at the follow-up. The proportion of those achieving remission was compared by the DUP. The impact of DUP on remission was estimated in multivariate analyses. Results: At the follow-up, 83% (71/86) of patients who had met the criteria for symptomatic remission at the baseline achieved enduring remission, whereas 63% (119/190) of patients who had not met the criteria for symptomatic remission at baseline met it at the follow-up. The shorter the DUP, the higher the proportion of those who achieved symptomatic or enduring remission at the follow-up. The impact of DUP on symptomatic remission appeared to be significant after controlling for other factors influencing remission. Conclusion: Since the DUP would influence remission of patients with schizophrenia, early detection and intervention services should be provided in Thailand.
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Objective To explore the influence of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP)on cognition and social function in first-episode drug-na?ve schizophrenia. Methods Ninety-three first-episode drug-na?ve schizophrenic were enrolled as the schizophrenia group and 93 normal people served as the control group. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) were used to assess the degree of mental symptoms. The Matrics Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to evaluate the cognitive function. Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) and the Global Assessment Function Scale (GAF) were used to evaluate the social function. Result There were significant differences in scores of Trail Marking Test, Symbol Coding test, Category Fluency test, Stroop color word test, Continuous Performance Test, Spatial Span test, Brief-Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (HVLT-R), Brief-Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) and Maze test between the schizophrenia group and the control group (all P<0.05). There were significant differences in scores of GAF and PSP between the schizophrenia group and the control group (all P<0.05). DUP was negatively related to the score of HVLT-R2 (r=-0.265, P=0.010) or BVMT-R3 (r=-0.328, P=0.001). DUP was negatively related to the scores of GAF score(r=-0.292,P=0.005)or PSP score(r=-0.397,P<0.001). Conclusion There are social function impairment and a wide range of cognitive function impairment in the first-episode drug-na?ve schizophrenic. The length of the DUP is associated with the severity of the social functional and cognitive functional impairment.
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Background: Duration of the untreated psychosis has been predicted to be one of a factor which affects the outcome of disease and leading to poor prognosis in the patients. Previous studies had predicted that the longer the duration of psychosis the poor the outcome of the treatment. Aim: To assess the factors affecting the Duration of untreated psychosis among patients with first episode psychosis in General hospital setup. Materials and methods: Retrospective study was done on patients who got admitted for the duration of 6 months (1st June 2014 to 31st November 2014). Patients who were diagnosed to have first episode psychosis according to ICD-10 were taken up for the study. Duration of untreated psychosis and the socio demographic details were noted. Results: The duration of untreated psychosis was seen more in male (58%), 45% in age group of 20- 29, 54% were married, 71% in lower middle economic status, 75% of people were from semi urban background and 41% of patients had duration of untreated psychosis for duration of 2-5 weeks. Mean average age is 30.75 and duration of untreated psychosis is 40 days. Conclusion: Mean average age is 30.75 and duration of untreated psychosis is 40 days. Age, gender, marital status, socio-economic status and residence (Environment) acting as a predictor for the long DUP is consistent with previous studies but significant findings couldn’t be found, when two groups Ananthi B, Sabari Sridhar O.T., Kailash S, Shajahan M Ismail, Srinivasan B. Factors affecting duration of untreated psychosis - A retrospective study done in general hospital setting. IAIM, 2017; 4(3): 10-14. Page 11 were compared thus giving the conclusion that Sociodemographic factors alone doesn’t influence on DUP
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OBJECTIVE: To develop a model of group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for Korean patients with early psychosis. METHODS: The group CBT utilized in the present study consisted of metacognitive training, cognitive restructuring, and lifestyle managements. The Subjective Well-being Under Neuroleptics (SWN-K), Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ), Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) were administered prior to and after CBT sessions. The participants were categorized into two groups according to the median duration of untreated psychosis (DUP; 4 months). RESULTS: A total of 34 patients were included in this analysis. From pre- to post-therapy, there were significant increases in the SWN-K and DAI scores and significant decreases in the hostility subscale of the AIHQ, PSS, and CGI scores. Significant time × DUP interaction effects were observed for the SWN-K, DAI, and BDI scores, such that there were significant changes in patients with a short DUP but not in those with a long DUP. CONCLUSION: The group CBT program had a positive effect on subjective wellbeing, attitude toward treatment, perceived stress, and suspiciousness of young Korean patients with early psychosis. These effects were particularly significant in patients with a short DUP.
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Humans , Antipsychotic Agents , Depression , Hostility , Intention , Life Style , Psychotherapy, Group , Psychotic Disorders , SchizophreniaABSTRACT
Objective To study related factors of the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in Tibetan patients with schizophrenia in Qinghai Province. Methods The related factors on DUP were investigated in totally 188 Tibetan pa?tients with schizophrenia using questionnaires of mental health services and symptom onset for schizophrenia. All the Ti?betan patients were provided with the National Continuing Management and Intervention Program for Psychoses (686 Pro?gram). Results The median (low quartile, upper quartile) of DUP in Tibetan patients with schizophrenia was 375 days (4 days, 1661 days). The patients were divided into short DUP group (DUP≤375days, 90 patients) and long DUP group (DUP>375 days, 98 patients). There were significant differences in mode of onset,marital status, educational level, family type, place of residence between short DUP group and long DUP group (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis found that lack of family structure (OR=2.340, 95%CI:1.130~4.847, P=0.022), chronic onset (OR=2.136, 95%CI:1.172~3.891, P=0.013) and living in pastoral areas (OR=2.239, 95%CI:1.097~4.571, P=0.027) were risk factors of DUP. Conclusion Ti?betan patients with schizophrenia have a longer DUP and related risk factories of DUP are lack of family structure, chron?ic onset and living in pastoral areas.
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Objective To investigate the association of duration of untreated psychosis(DUP) and the gray matter volumes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.Methods 39 patients with first-episode schizophrenia were divided into two groups according to DUP:long-DUP group and short-DUP group.All the subjects underwent T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging.After transformed with MRIcro software,all the images underwent standardization,segmentation,modulation and smoothing with Statistical Parametric Mapping 5 (SPM5) software.The gray matter volumes of the two groups underwent two-sample t-test with a Voxel-based morphometry (VBM)using SPM5 software.Results Long-DUP schizophrenic patients presented significantly reduced GM volume in the left thalamus(MNI:-6,-16,2;cluster=141 voxels)and the left temporal lobe(MNI:-46,-58,-6;cluster=69 Voxels),compared with short-DUP schizophrenic patients.Conclusion Delayed DUP may increase the loss of gray matter in schizophrenia.
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Objective To explore the influencing factor of duration of untreated psychosis(DUP) and the relationship between duration of untreated psychosis and treatment outcome in epidemiological first-episode schizophrenia. Methods 912 medical records of the first episode schizophrenia patients were recruited in the study for epidemiological survey . The general medical data, clinical diagnosis, and treatment outcome were collected. DUP was determined refer to symptom onset for schizophrenia (SOS) scale. Patients were divided into short DUP and long DUP groups according to the median values of DUP values. Results Between short DUP and long DUP groups, the difference in marriage was significant ( P < 0. 05). The unmarried patients in the short DUP group (63.7% ) was higher than the long DUP group (52.6% ), the variance was significant (λ2 =5.990, P<0.05). The divorce in the short DUP group (0.6% ) was lower than the long DUP group (4.4% ) , the variance was significant (λ2 =5.079, P<0.01).The simple schizophrenia in the short DUP group (1.5%) was lower than the long DUP group (4. 1% ) , the variance was significant (λ2 =5.868, P<0.05). The treatment outcomes between the two groups had a significant variance ( λ2 =36.093, P < 0.01) , and the Ridit analysis of treatment outcomes between the two groups showed significant difference ( u = 5.183, P<0.01). The marriage,age of onset and clinical diagnosis were significantly correlated with DUP in multiple factor Logistic regression analysis. Conclusion The marriage,age of onset and clinical diagnosis are significantly correlated with DUP in the first episode schizophrenia patients,the longer of DUP and the worse of treatment outcome.
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Objective: Mental health services in Malaysia often face competition from traditional healers especially among patients with psychosis. The objective of the study is to determine whether patients who sought help earlier from traditional healers had longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), and more adverse experiences in pathways to psychiatric care. Methods: This is a hospital-based cross-sectional study of 50 inpatients with first-episode psychosis in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (Diagnostic and statistical manual, 4th edition) Clinical Version for Axis I Disorders (SCID-CV) was used for establishing diagnosis. Onset of psychosis was defined as any one positive symptom with a score of >3 on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Socio-demographic data, information on pathways and treatment delaying factors were determined through face-to-face interview and semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Fifty-four percent of the patients had at least one contact with traditional healers prior to consulting psychiatric service, and it was the most popular first point of non-psychiatric help-seeking contact (48%). Contact with traditional healers was not associated with age, gender, ethnic, education level, longer DUP or treatment delay, and admissions with violent behaviour or police assistance. Of those who had sought help from traditional healers, one third were recommended by at least one of their traditional healers to seek medical help. Conclusion: Consultation involving traditional healers was a popular choice, and not associated with treatment delay. Traditional healers in an urban setting may be potential collaborators in managing patients with first-episode psychosis. Future research should explore the frontiers of such collaborative work.
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The duration of Untreated Psychosis (DUP), defined as the period of time between the onset of psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, and the first effective treatment, has been associated to prognosis of schizophrenia. It has been demonstrated that although psychotic symptoms are initially detected by relatives of patients with schizophrenia, they take a long time to seek specialized attention, which in turn leads to a delay in the diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. Schizophrenia has been considered by the World Health Organization as a public health problem and has been placed as the ninth cause of incapacity in the world. Thus, DUP represents part of this public health problem. In Mexico, the average DUP lasts 64 weeks, which is very similar to the average observed in other countries, where the mean DUP in psychotic patients varies between one and two years. One of the main reasons of a prolonged DUP is that patients and their families first assist with a general practitioner which, in many cases, does not perform an adequate diagnosis with the subsequent referral to a psychiatric facility, and the treatment given for the patient is based on sedative medication. This is also Mexico's case, where seeking help primarily involves religious groups, with very few referrals to psychiatric facilities and with inadequate treatment support, which delays care in specialized services. It has been established that early treatment is related to a better prognosis and outcome, while treatment delay has been related to a longer time to achieve symptom remission. These results support the hypothesis that the presence of psychotic symptoms for a long period of time may predispose to biological damage, which may in turn lead to predominant negative symptoms and severe cognitive deficits after the first psychotic episode. Also, some studies have found that a longer DUP is related to a more insidious illness onset, frequent relapses and psychiatric hospitalizations during the course of the disorder, with a poor response to antipsychotic medication. Through the use of neuroimaging, several studies have found the relation between DUP and brain morphology in patients with schizophrenia. Studies using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have reported that patients with longer DUP show a significant reduction in the gray matter of the temporal planum, in the left middle, inferior temporal, left occipital and left fusiform cortices, with an increase of grey matter in the left basal ganglia, and a volume reduction of the caudate nucleus. These results may be related to the clinical course of the disorder in terms of a higher symptom severity and poor treatment response. In regard to psychosocial variables related to DUP, it has been observed that men have a longer DUP when compared to women and patients that are single and unemployed also have a longer DUP. Consequently, it has been found that there is a relationship between DUP and premorbid adjustment in patients with schizophrenia. Premorbid adjustment is defined as the psychosocial functioning in the educational, occupational, social and interpersonal relations areas before the evidence of positive characteristic symptomatology, where symptoms are not secondary to an organic cause and cover a period of six months before the first psychiatric hospitalization or contact with a psychiatric facility. In addition, it has been found that a prolonged DUP is related to a poor premorbid adjustment, especially during late adolescence and adulthood. This association may suggest the presence of prodromic symptoms secondary to the physiopathological process of psychosis. Consequently, if a patient shows some of the initial symptoms of the disorder, including psychosocial impairment, his/her abilities to be aware of the symptoms may be limited to seek for medical care, which may in turn increase DUP. Furthermore, some authors have reported that some variables related to the patient's environment are related with DUP. The main variable pointed out is: the previous experience with mental disorders and psychiatric facilities. Patients whose families had previous experience of a mentally ill relative, report a shorter DUP when compared to families with no previous history of an ill relative. Also, it has been analised that patients with an adequate social network have a shorter DUP compared to those patients whose social network is inadequate or limited. Based on these results, some authors have proposed two phenotypes for psychotic disorders: the first one characterized by males, poor premorbid adjustment, long DUP, insidious onset of the disorder and a stable pattern of negative symptoms. The second phenotype was one characterized by the following variables: females, good premorbid adjustment, a shorter DUP, acute illness onset and absence of a stable pattern of negative symptoms. This definition may be useful to determine the course of the disorder in patients with schizophrenia and may be able to predict the clinical outcome. Thus, DUP can be used as an indicator of prognosis in patients with schizophrenia and its evaluation should be promoted. Although these two phenotypes are very useful, caution should be warranted in their use to avoid generalization. By and large, the studies related to the clinical impact of DUP emphasized the need to reduce DUP through early detection programs, including psychoeducation. We believe that this approach will be useful to identify individuals at an early development of a psychotic illness so that interventions can begin before symptoms have reached a level of significant impairment for the patient and warranting referrals by the family, school or health providers. Based on the studies reviewed above, we can conclude that DUP has a definitive impact on the prognosis of patients with schizophrenia and that future studies should be performed including it not only as a predictor of clinical outcome, but also as an specific clinical target for mental health research. Increasing the knowledge about the relationship between DUP and clinical course of schizophrenia is crucial to create and promote early detection and intervention programs such as the ones that have started all over the world, where the main objective is to identify young people who are at risk of developing psychotic disorders, specially schizophrenia.
La duración de la psicosis no tratada (DPNT), definida como el período de tiempo entre la aparición de los síntomas psicóticos y el inicio de un tratamiento adecuado, está asociada al pronóstico de la esquizofrenia, enfermedad que ha sido considerada por la Organización Mundial de la Salud, como un problema de salud pública. El atraso en la búsqueda de tratamiento especializado conlleva a un retraso en el diagnóstico y tratamiento adecuados de la enfermedad. En México, el promedio de la DPNT es de 64 semanas, siendo éste similar al reportado en otros países, donde la media varía entre uno y dos años. Se ha comprobado que el retraso en el tratamiento adecuado del padecimiento está relacionado con un pobre pronóstico, lo cual apoya la hipótesis de que la presencia de síntomas psicóticos durante un largo período de tiempo puede predisponer a un daño biológico, generando así un predominio de síntomas negativos y mayores déficit cognitivos después del primer episodio psicótico. Además, se ha encontrado que una DPNT larga se relaciona con un inicio insidioso de la enfermedad, mayor número de recaídas y rehospitalizaciones psiquiátricas durante el curso de la enfermedad, además de una pobre respuesta al tratamiento farmacológico con antipsicóticos. En cuanto a las variables demográficas y psicosociales que se asocian con una DPNT prolongada encontramos: al sexo masculino, el no tener pareja u ocupación laboral. Asimismo, se ha reportado que los pacientes que presentan un mayor deterioro en su funcionamiento premórbido, son aquellos que muestran una mayor DPNT. Esta asociación sugiere que los pacientes con esquizofrenia pueden presentar síntomas prodrómicos mucho tiempo antes de que su funcionamiento se vea totalmente afectado por el proceso fisiopatológico de la psicosis. Asimismo, se han reportado variables relacionadas con el entorno del paciente asociadas a la DPNT. Entre ellas, destacan la experiencia previa con trastornos mentales y las redes sociales. Se ha observado que los pacientes de familias que han tenido una experiencia previa con otro familiar diagnosticado con alguna enfermedad mental, muestran una menor DPNT en contraste con aquellos cuyas familias no han tenido experiencias previas de enfermedades mentales. De igual forma, se ha informado que pacientes con una adecuada red social tienen una menor DPNT, comparados con aquellos cuya red social es limitada. A partir de estos hallazgos se han propuesto dos fenotipos para los trastornos psicóticos cuya definición puede ser útil para determinar el curso clínico de la enfermedad en pacientes con esquizofrenia. En este sentido, la DPNT se puede utilizar como un indicador para el pronóstico de pacientes con esquizofrenia, por lo que se sugiere promover su evaluación. Los estudios que se han llevado a cabo sobre el impacto clínico de la DPNT enfatizan la necesidad de reducirla mediante programas de detección temprana. Estos programas serían útiles para identificar personas en etapas iniciales de un trastorno psicótico y se podría realizar una intervención profesional antes de que los síntomas alcancen un nivel de deterioro significativo para el paciente. Con base en lo anterior, se puede concluir que la DPNT tiene un fuerte impacto sobre el pronóstico de los pacientes con esquizofrenia y que en el futuro se deben realizar estudios que la incluyan no sólo como un factor pronóstico, sino como un objetivo clínico específico de la investigación en salud mental, ya que la información que se genere puede ser la base para la creación y promoción de programas de detección e intervención tempranas.
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OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the psychosocial factors and clinical symptoms related to the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in 35 consecutive first-episode inpatients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Data from 35 schizophrenic patients were obtained from two general psychiatric inpatient units at a university medical center. These data included scores from Index of Social Position (ISP), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) as well as socio-demographic informations. RESULTS: Among socio-demographic variables, lower social position (r=.610, p<.001), male sex (r=.407, p=.015), and grew up in rural area (r=.335, p=.045) were significantly correlated with DUP. The interpersonal sensitivity of SCL-90-R was the only symptomatic variable significantly correlated with DUP (r=.379, p=.027). However, after controlling interactive effects of the variables, only lower social position and interpersonal sensitivity remained significant. Lower social position was more influential on DUP than interpersonal sensitivity in the multiple regression model. CONCLUSION: Both social and symptomatic factors independently influenced DUP in schizophrenic patients. Lower social position defined by education and occupation of patients or caretakers may reflect barriers to psychiatric services or poor identification of mental illness. This together with patients' subjective distress in interpersonal interactions may delay the intervention of psychiatric services.
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Humans , Male , Academic Medical Centers , Education , Inpatients , Occupations , Psychology , Psychotic Disorders , SchizophreniaABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Number of previous studies reported poor treatment outcome of longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). The purpose of this study was to determine whether DUP was associated with clinical and cognitive variables in patients with schizophrenia in Korea. METHODS: The data were collected from forty-five patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia who were hospitalizaed. Demographic data, psychiatric family history, insight, duration of first hospitalization, age of onset, DUP, cognitive function, and premorbid functioning were assessed. RESULTS: The mean DUP was 23.7 months. Female subjects showed longer DUP (p<0.007) independent of age of onset. No significant correlations were observed between DUP and clinical and cognitive variables except the highest Global Assessment Functioning score in past year (r=-0.35, p=0.02). CONCLUSION: These findings do not support the hypothesis of a psychotoxic effect of prolonged period of untreated psychosis.