Shortened duration of untreated first episode of psychosis: changes in patient characteristics at treatment.

Abstract

This study examined whether duration of untreated psychosis can be shortened in patients with first episodes of DSM-IV schizophrenia spectrum disorders and whether shorted duration alters patient appearance at treatment. Two study groups were ascertained in the same Norwegian health care sector: one from 1993-1994 with usual detection methods and one from 1997-1998 with early detection strategies that included education about psychosis. Patients with early detection had a shorter median duration of untreated psychosis by 21.5 weeks than patients with usual detection. The number with psychosis was greater in the early detection group; the number with schizophrenia was less. Early detection patients had more substance abuse and were younger, better adjusted premorbidly, and less ill. Early detection can shorten duration of untreated psychosis and help more patients when they are less severely ill. Given the devastation of psychosis, this is a significant treatment advance.