RESUMO
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.